I Know Saint Peter Won't Call My Name
by DreamsInBlackAndWhite
Summary: Yassen loves his son more than anything.So when he's taken from him, Yassen's ready to slaughter anyone who tries to keep his son from him.But he's up against opposition he never expected to see again.Because Alex Rider does not take well to being lied to
1. Good Morning, Son

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the Alex Rider series. I do own Yanis.**_

_Blood, sweat. Blood, pain. Must keep running. Breath, air, blood, pain. Screams in the background. Bullets rip the sky. Ink and gold drowning him. Cobbles opening up. Swallowing him whole. Eyes watching him. Pale blue. Watchful. Disappointed. Goodbye. That's what they're saying. A chant, repeated over and over. Goodbye, goodbye, good friends goodbye! Something poking him. What was that tapping him? A weight on his chest. Starting to hurt. The weight struggling. More poking._

"Daddy", whispered a quiet voice intruding on Yassen's strange dreamworld, "Daddy, wake up".

Yassen opened his eyes and rubbed them blearily. He looked around and saw Yanis sitting on top of him, ice blue eyes watching him carefully, still in his footy-pyjamas and poking his father's arm.

"Go back to sleep Yanis", Yassen mumbled, holding his son's hand to stop it poking him.

"But daddy, it's time to get up!" the boy replied.

Yassen rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked around. He was on the sofa, Yanis was on top of him and Bear in the Big Blue House was just finishing on TV, that annoying song drilling into his skull.

That meant it was indeed time to get up. That didn't make Yassen any less resentful towards the whole stupid world. Why couldn't he just have taken one more minute? It would have been the best minute ever...and now it was already past.

Yassen extricated his son from him and set Yanis on his feet beside the sofa. He sat up and forced himself to get up go to the bathroom while Yanis just curled up on the cosy sofa.

Yassen hopped in the shower and ran through his normal morning hygienic routine. Shower, shave, brush teeth etc. Then, he made his way back into the living room to get Yanis, who had gone to sleep on the sofa. Typical. Wouldn't let Yassen catch an extra minute but went straight back to sleep himself. Yassen nudged his son and Yanis smiled up at his father, fully awake again.

"Go to your room and pick out what you're wearing today" Yassen said firmly. Yanis grinned and got to his feet. He wrapped his arms around Yassen in a quick hug before scooting off to his bedroom across the hall.

Yassen went to the kitchen and proceeded with making breakfast. Which consisted of...nothing. He'd neglected to go shopping yesterday and now the kitchen was totally empty. Details of yesterday started flooding back to him. Coming back form the airport to find Yanis soaking wet in his own you-know-what. His son crying and telling him how there'd been no food and how he hadn't eaten all week. Poor kid. Yassen had forgotten to get stuff in when Levi Kroll had called him in on an assignment.

He'd given Yanis a bath then dressed him and taken him down to Mc Donalds. When Yanis finished his happy meal they'd returned to the apartment and sat up to watch TV, Yanis in pyjamas. They must have slept on the sofa all night.

"Yani, we'll get breakfast on the way to work" Yassen called to the child, using his pet name for him.

Finally, after much work on Yassen's part, Yanis was washed, dressed and presentable. Yassen locked the door of the apartment and led his son to the elevator.

Yanis insisted on pushing the button to call it and the elevator arrived a minute later. They weren't the only people using the lift though. A man Yassen recognized as one of their neighbours smiled at Yanis.

"Mr. Finanigan!" Yanis said loudly. The man smiled at him. Yassen frowned. Finanigan? Finnagan. That's what Yanis meant.

"Hey Yani" Mr. Finnagan replied enthusiastically.

Yassen vaguely remembered how Yanis had put Mr. Finnagan's thousand euro coy fish in the man's kettle. It was actually kind of funny when you looked at it with no involvement in the matter. Yassen, however, hadn't thought it was funny when he had to foot the bill for the stupid fish.

"So, your daddy came back again, huh? Look, Yani, if you ever need anything, you know exactly where my flat is, don't you?" Mr. Finnagan offered.

Yanis nodded and the lift finally reached the ground floor. He led Yanis out to the street, making a mental note to ask about Mr. Finnagan later. But for now, he had to get to his office.

Yanis was hopping energetically along beside Yassen and he smiled up at his father.

"I have a meeting with Mr. Kurst first thing today so we'll go straight to his office, alright? And then we have to meet with Mr. Kroll" Yassen informed his son quietly.

Yanis frowned up at his father. Why'd they all have to have such weird names?

"You're going to be on your best behaviour today?" Yassen questioned, steering his son into one of the breakfast bars that littered London.

"Ja" Yanis replied in German. Yassen smiled faintly. His son barreled from language to language with rapid fire changes. He was likely to speak French all day without realising it. He wasn't at the age where he was cognizant of knowing a foreign language.

"And no wandering off either" Yassen said sternly as they joined the large queue for breakfast.

Yanis stayed quiet at the accusation and Yassen eyed his son.

"I mean it Yanis. I'll be busy today and I won't have time to look for you if you just decide to go for a stroll".

"Okay, I promise. Daddy?" he asked quietly, his voice filled with something between loneliness and fear.

Yassen looked down at his son. Yanis was clever but he was no actor. He was genuinely distressed about something.

"Please don't leave me again" Yanis said in such a sad little voice that Yassen had to pull back on embracing his son. He did, however, crouch down to Yanis's level and tap him on the nose gently.

"I won't Yani. I promise I'll only leave you if there is no other way out of the situation. Alright?" Yassen said, smiling sadly at his son.

"Okay daddy" Yanis replied happily, hugging his father quickly. Yassen returned the hug very swiftly then straightened up again. Finally, they reached the top of the queue. Yassen lifted Yanis up and sat him on the counter while they both considered the menu.

"I'll have the fruit bowl and Yanis will have the blueberry muffin" Yassen said to the teenage boy behind the counter.

Yanis grinned up at Yassen and cheekily stuck his tongue out. Yassen ignored the boy and when their food was ready he paid the teenager and left, carrying the take-away food bag in his left hand, holding Yanis's hand in his right.

Finally they reached the Scorpia offices. Yassen swiped his identification card through to unlock the doors. He nodded at the receptionist and called a lift quickly. Yanis chattered happily about what had happened while Yassen was away and when they reached the floor with Zeljan's office, Yanis trailed off mid sentence.

"Daddy, are we going to Mr. Krust's office?" Yanis asked.

Yassen rolled his eyes.

"His name, Yanis, is Mr. Kurst. Not Krust. And yes, we are. I told you that already" Yassen reminded him. Yanis jumped and let out a noise that was caught somewhere between a squeal and a squeak.

Yassen frowned. Zeljan insisted on spoiling Yanis any time he saw him. It was strange really, considering that the man hated children. He was sort of like a grandfather to Yanis, in a strange, messed up way.

Yassen stepped out of the lift and knocked politely on Zeljan's door.

"Come in" called Zeljan, his voice slightly muffled by the door separating them.

Yassen did that and no sooner had he closed the door than Yanis had bolted across the room to Zeljan, hugging him as if he was a long lost relative.

"Yani! Look, why don't you wait outside for a few minutes? I have something to discuss with your father. It'll only take a minute" Zeljan promised. Yanis nodded curiously and raced out of the room again, eager to please the two men.

However, as he stood in the hallway ten minutes later, he was starting to get the tiniest bit annoyed. Daddy and Mr. Krust were having fun inside and they had left him out here waiting on them. And he was hungry too.

Yanis pressed his ear to the door and listened to the snatches of conversation he caught.

"Assignment...three months...in your new contract" Mr. Krust said. Yanis frowned. His daddy was leaving for three months? He promised he'd stay! Well, if daddy wouldn't keep his promises then neither would he.

Yanis stomped down the corridor and pushed open the door to the stairs. He looked back over his shoulder once and then continued on his way, hurrying down the stairs as fast as his five year old legs would carry him. He had descended at least five floors when he started to regret even starting down the stairs. What would daddy do without him? Probably be really bored.

And he'd miss daddy. Daddy bought him breakfast and let him watch the Goombears and even played football with him. Yanis nodded to himself. He'd left daddy dangle long enough. Now it was time to go back.

He turned to go back up the stairs when he heard a chuckle. He looked behind him. No-one there. He looked in front of him. No-one there either. Spooky.

"Yanis" someone said. Yanis looked up and saw a woman on the stairs of the floor above him. She beamed down at him.

"Come here" she said kindly. Yanis frowned and then shrugged away his doubts. He was going up the stairs again anyway. He'd have to talk to her sooner or later.

So, Yanis started back up the stairs. When he reached the woman, he frowned. She was very pretty. She had brown hair and greyish eyes. She smiled nice too, Yanis thought to himself, but her smile made him shiver.

"Hello Yanis. I'm China Melody. I know your daddy. What are you doing here all alone?" she asked, grinning at him.

Yanis frowned. His daddy was always warning him about talking to strangers. And this China was definitely a stranger.

"I'm not a'posed to talk to strangers" Yanis said quietly. China's smile widened.

"I'm not a stranger. I know your daddy. Now, why don't we go find him?" China said cheerfully. Yanis took her offered hand and the two made their way up two flights of stairs in silence.

"Do you like your daddy Yanis?" China asked gently. Yanis nodded silently and the two reached the top of another flight of stairs.

"Where is your daddy?" China asked, eyes taking in the boy.

"With Mr. Krust" Yanis said simply. China chuckled softly.

"With Zeljan? We're here then" she said, leading Yanis up another flight and through the doors onto a hallway. She knocked on the door of an office Yanis recognized as Mr. Krust's. Yassen opened the door and emerged from the office, Zeljan just behind. Yassen's eyes flashed dangerously at China but she held onto Yanis's hand, letting go only when the boy pulled away and raced over to his father.

"DADDY!!" Yanis shrieked, hugging Yassen desperately around the waist.

"I'm sorry I goed but I was mad and I know I shouldn't have but I did and I'm so sorry and I promise to never, ever, ever, ever do it again and I love you daddy and while I was mad I met China and she telled me she's your friend so we camed back up here and I'm sorry daddy!" Yanis said at rapid speed.

Yassen lifted up his son by the hips and Yanis buried his head in the crook of his father's neck.

China smiled at Yassen. Yassen bit back the urge to snap the woman's neck.

For the sake of maintaining a polite front with Yanis around, Yassen nodded at China.

"Thank you for returning my son to me" he said quietly. Then, he turned on his heel and stormed up to his office. Zeljan glared at China who shrugged.

"What did I do to upset Lord High and Mighty?" she asked, smiling.

"You know exactly what you did. Grow up China" Zeljan replied.

"He can't keep my nephew from me forever" China shot back before turning on her heel and leaving.

Zeljan rolled his eyes. Stupid assassins. Always so stubborn.

* * *

Yassen watched his son squirt butterscotch sauce on his Shepard's pies then take a bite. He denied himself the urge to shiver and instead smiled at the boy, who smiled cheerily back.

"This is yummy. I love it when you make dinner daddy" Yanis said happily, taking another bite.

"I microwaved it Yanis. It doesn't really count as making dinner" Yassen said, going back to reading his newspaper.

"You're a great cook daddy" Yanis said calmly, kicking his feet back and forth.

Yassen chuckled and listened as Yanis continued to tell him about every single thing that had happened while he was away.

"And it rained so I taked in the bal-co-ny chair" Yanis said, sounding out the words he found hard.

"Wonderful Yanis" Yassen said, half listening to his son. He was busy reading a rather intriguing story about a woman who'd given birth to half a baby. He still wasn't quite sure how that would work.

"And the water got cutted off so I had to wait for a long time 'fore it camed back on again" Yanis continued.

"Really Yanis? Fascinating" Yassen commented, hearing the words water and back. Another weird story in the paper about a girl who rolled down the side of a pyramid. Now that was interesting.

"And then I falled over daddy 'cause I was standing on the big bouncy ball you buyed me. And then Dave camed and knocked on the door" Yanis babbled happily.

Yassen's eyes snapped to his son, all thoughts of pyramids and half babies vanishing.

"Who's Dave?" Yassen asked urgently.

"He knocked on the door but you said never open the door when I'm alone so I didn't. But I peeked out and he had pleesemen with him so I said no-one was home and he kept asking me to open the door so I telled him no-one was home so he telled me he was Dave and he slipped a card thing under the door and he telled me was gonna call back later" Yanis explained rapidly.

Yassen's shoulders tensed. He could feel the mother of all headaches approaching.

"Do you have the card he slipped under the door?" Yassen asked.

Yanis disappeared into his room for a few minutes and returned with a plain white business card. Yanis gave it to his father and Yassen read it quickly. 'David Wallace. Social Worker'.

Yassen felt his insides turn cold. What was a social worker doing here? Almost by fate, a loud knock sounded on the door. Yassen took a moment to compose himself and then answered the door.

A man with sandy hair grinned at him. He had four policemen with him, each one eyeing Yassen in a supposedly intimidating manner.

"Hi, I'm Dave Wallace. I called round a few days ago but your son wouldn't let me in. I was wondering if I could come in for a little chat?" Dave asked. Yassen nodded.

"Of course. Go on into the living room. I was just clearing up the dinner plates. Would you like a tea? A coffee?" Yassen asked.

"Tea would be great. I'm afraid I'll also have to speak with your son" Dave said, leading his little posse into the living room. Within five minutes everyone was in the living room. Yassen sat in the armchair with Yanis in his lap, Dave sat in the other armchair and the policemen stood hovering in the room. Dave took a sip of his tea and then studied the clipboard he had with him.

"Okay, like I said, I'm Dave. Now, I don't actually have a name for you or your son so..."

"He's registered here as John Beckett but his name is Yanis Yassenovich. I'm Yassen Beckett" Yassen said, giving his false name. Dave scratched something down on his clipboard.

"Can you explain that to me?" Dave asked, watching Yassen intently.

"Yanis, why don't you go show one of the policemen your room?" Yassen suggested. Yanis nodded happily and practically dragged the youngest policeman out of the living room. The policeman shot Dave a look that clearly said 'Please save me from this kid'. Dave just chuckled.

Yassen closed the living room door and when he was sure Yanis was out of ear shot he returned his attention to Dave.

"I met his mother in a nightclub, did the deed and then ten months later she turned up. She thrust a baby at me, made me take him and then charged me a couple of thousand euros as 'get the hell away from me' money. Haven't seen her since. But she registered him as John Beckett here and I was living in Russia so I changed it to Yanis Yassenovich but the English government wouldn't let me change it because I didn't have his mother's permission" Yassen explained quickly.

"I see. Do you have John's mother's name?" Dave asked, scribbling something else down.

"No. And his name is Yanis, not John" Yassen replied tersely.

"I'm afraid he'll be John from here on in. Mr. Beckett, I'm sorry to tell you that we're considering taking John into Government care" Dave responded.

Yassen frowned.

"Is there a reason behind this?" he asked angrily, eyes flashing.

"Yes. We've had several separate reports filed by residents of this building. We have evidence of neglect for starters. Your neighbour has told us how you leave for long periods of time and leave John alone here. John isn't in school even though he should be. So now I'd like to speak with John, alright?" Dave said.

Yassen bit his bottom lip. He couldn't lose Yanis. He didn't even want to imagine what that would feel like. To lose his son was unthinkable.

"Look, I know you think I'm the worst person in the world right now but I promise you here and now that I will do everything I can to let you keep your son. I don't want to take John from you, alright? Now, I'll go talk to him in his room and leave you with these very competent officers of the law" Dave said, gesturing at the remaining policemen.

Dave got to his feet and made his way across the hallway to where he could hear the little boy babbling. He opened the boy's bedroom door and smiled at the scene inside. It was a typical kid's room with colourful toy chests and toys all over the floor. The boy was bouncing on his bed and the young policeman was nodding to everything he said, a look of helplessness on his face.

"Hi John" Dave said. The policeman and the boy looked at him, finally noticing his presence.

The boy stopped bouncing and sat on his bed. The policeman smiled hopefully. Dave gestured for him to leave and he did. Then, Dave sat down beside John on the bed and smiled at the boy.

"Hi John" he repeated.

"I'm Yanis" the boy replied, frowning in confusion.

"No, you're John" Dave said, frowning.

"No, I'm Yanis" the boy responded.

"Alright John, how has your day been so far?" Dave asked, choosing to ignore the boy's previous comments.

"I goed to my daddy's office with him and my daddy made me dinner when we goed back home" Yanis said, grinning.

"Wow! That sounds great! Does your daddy always make dinner for you?" Dave asked.

Yanis sucked his thumb as he thought.

"If he's home" he replied.

"Alright. And is your daddy always home?" Dave asked.

"No. He has to work" Yanis replied quietly.

"What about a few days ago John? Your neighbour, Mr. Finnagan, said that you were alone all week. Is that true?" Dave asked.

Yanis fidgeted slightly.

"No. It wasn't like the way you think. It was different. Daddy leaved me lots o' food and money and he called every night to checking on me!" Yanis protested, his English deteriorating quickly. Dave frowned. He'd been around enough children to know when they were lying.

"Alright. Do you like going to your daddy's office?" Dave asked, changing the subject.

"Ja. I gets to hug Mr. Krust and my daddy buys breakfast and after we go to the park and daddy pushes me on the swing and I go so fast!" Yanis said happily, giggling at the end of his sentence. Dave laughed along with the boy who's laugh was so infectious.

"Do you know how to read John?" Dave asked.

"I already telled you my name's Yanis!" the boy replied. Dave smiled slightly.

"Okay. But you see, you have another name that everyone who's not related to you have to call you and that's John. Alright?" Dave said kindly.

Yanis considered this and nodded.

"So, John, do you know how to read?" Dave asked again.

"No. My daddy reads to me though. I love the Gruffalo! And my Jabberwock!" Yanis said, jumping to his feet.

Dave nodded and noted the detail down on his clipboard.

"What's your Jabberwock?" asked Dave.

Yanis bounded across the room and pulled out a book that was nearly the size of him. He opened the book onto a page and beamed at Dave.

"_And has thou slain the Jabberwock?  
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!  
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"  
He chortled in his joy_" Yanis recited, grinning at Dave widely.

"I thought you couldn't read?" Dave asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"I can't. But I get daddy to read me the poem every night so I know it all in my head" Yanis explained.

Dave nodded, smiling. John appeared to be a particularly intelligent boy.

"I draw the things in the poem all the time. You wanna see my pictures?" Yanis asked politely.

"Maybe another time. I just have a few more questions for you John" Dave said. Yanis bounced back to his seat and smiled innocently.

"John, do you love your daddy?" Dave asked.

Yanis's mouth fell open. What kind of a question was that? Of course he loved his daddy!

"I love my daddy very, very, very, very, very, very much!" Yanis replied.

Dave smiled at him.

"How would you feel about leaving your daddy to live with some other people?" he asked quietly.

Yanis's eyes widened in horror. _How the hell could Dave suggest such a horrible thing?_

"No. I love my daddy and he loves me and I want to stay with 'cause he loves me lots and lots and lots and he takes care of me and he lets me watch the Goombears too" Yanis said indignantly.

Dave nodded to himself.

"Okay then John. We're done here you can go back to your daddy now" Dave said kindly. Yanis shot from the room and Dave followed at a leisurely paste.

"Alright then gang, you can all go back to your station and clock off" Dave said, clapping his hands off each other. The policemen vanished at a break neck speed and Yassen stood with his arms around Yanis's shoulders.

"Well?" he asked quietly.

"Yanis will be required to sit a test assessing his education and then we'll have to get some kind of consent form from someone on his mother's side and then you'll have to get him a place in a school. And if even one more complaint is made I'll have to take him into Government custody. You're both no flys for now. The airports will have your pictures so you won't get through. Please adhere to these procedures and you'll have nothing to worry about" Dave said.

Yassen shook the man's hand and watched as he left. Yanis looked up as his father and smiled.

"I love you daddy" Yanis said quietly. Yassen forced a smile onto his face. _Don't let Yanis see how doomed he is. Don't let him think for even a second that there is even the slimmest chance of him being taken._

"Why'd Dave call me John?" Yanis asked curiously.

"Aren't you tired?" Yassen countered. Yanis nodded and yawned sleepily. Yassen lifted his son into his room and changed him into a pair of deep blue footy-pyjamas. He made sure Yanis brushed his teeth then tucked him in and sat at the end of his bed.

"Daddy, will you sleep in here tonight?" Yanis asked quietly. Yassen frowned.

"Why?" he asked.

"'Cause of the bogeyman. He's under my bed daddy" Yanis said factually.

Yassen smiled.

"There's no bogeyman under your bed. Just old toys and dirty socks that **you **hid under there" Yassen said, sitting up beside his son and cuddling him.

"No!" Yanis protested, giggling.

"Yes" Yassen replied. Yassen tickled his son good naturedly and Yanis burst out with peals of uncontrolled laughter. Before he knew it, Yassen found himself laughing along with his son. Yanis could make even the crappest day a million times better without even knowing it.

"Daddy, read Gruffalo!" Yanis pleaded. Yassen frowned. Whenever he read to Yanis he ended up being coaxed into talking in a funny voice.

"Please daddy! I need it!" Yanis begged. Yassen fixed his son with a steely glare. No way in hell was he reading the Gruffalo to his son.

Half an hour later Yassen found himself cooing in a high-pitched voice.

""He has terrible tusks and terrible claws and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws". _"Where are you meeting him?". _"Here, by these rocks, And his favourite food is roasted fox.""

Yassen looked down at his side. Yanis was leaning against him fast asleep. Yassen smiled to himself. Yanis was his son. Possibly the best thing he'd ever done with his life was Yanis. Yassen quietly studied his son.

He had dirty blond hair that hung over his forehead and huge, pale blue eyes. He looked just like Yassen. But, whereas Yassen's face was carved with the planes of adulthood, Yanis had a sweet, innocent, adorable child face. It was a soft face. A face that didn't yet know the dangers of the world.

And Yassen couldn't bear to even think about losing his son. It wasn't going to happen.

Yanis would pass the education test no problem. Yassen would get him a place in school without any trouble. And if he played his cards right, China might even sign a consent form thing. Things would be fine. Absolutely fine.

That was, until his phone rang. Yassen answered quickly and bit back a scream of frustration at the voice that came over the line.

"Yassen, about the three months leave I signed you on for. I'm afraid you'll have to do me a little favour. Shouldn't take long, a few days at the most, but it needs to be done. I'll fax you the details" Zeljan said hastily before hanging up.

Yassen held back the urge to tear his hair out. If he left Yanis, he'd lose him. He couldn't take Yanis with him. What the hell was he supposed to do? And why, in the name of all that was holy, didn't Scorpia have daycare!?

_You might hate me for posting this story. But please review, regardless of opinion._


	2. Charge In And Rescue You

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Alex Rider series. I do own the original characters in this story.**

**A big chapter for your delight today. Bon appetite.**

**This chapter was written by DreamsInBlackAndWhite but it was posted byme, mml94. Neither of us are sure when the next chapter will be up**

**The author of this story is too proud to plead with you to review but I know for a fact she appreciates reviews. They make her smile.**

**Chapter Title = Shane Ward, Breathless. Lyrics in Chapter = Kanye West, Touch The Sky**

Yanis blocked his ears with his hands and scowled. Who the hell had been knocking on their door for the last ten minutes straight? Wasn't it bad enough his daddy left him again? At least this time the fridge and cupboards were full. The small boy was just tucking into a rather messily made sandwich when the knocking had started.

"John, it's Dave. I need to talk to you" a voice called.

Yanis was trapped by childhood indecision. He wasn't really sure about Dave but at least it wasn't a stranger knocking on his door. He sifted through his memories and found himself replaying his last conversation with his daddy in his head.

_"Yanis, open the bathroom door now!" daddy barked._

_"NO!" Yanis yelled. He was being bold, he knew it, but daddy broke his promise. He didn't **need **to go. How dare he even think about leaving!?_

_"Yanis, I'm giving you three seconds to open this door. Then I'm going to break it down" daddy said seriously. He was using his really angry voice when he went all quiet and his eyes went all cold. Reaaaally scary._

_"One" daddy said. Yanis stood up in the bathtub and considered. He tarried a minute too long in his indecision._

_"Two" daddy counted. Yanis rolled his eyes and stepped out of the bathtub. Maybe if he opened the door daddy would stay._

_"Three". Yanis reached the door and was about to turn the handle when the whole door splintered from it's hinges. The small child took a solid thump from the door handle and flew onto his back, beginning to cry. _

_Daddy had actually kicked the door in! He'd actually followed through on the threat! What in the name of all that was holy did he think he was doing!?_

_Yanis closed his eyes and when he opened them again daddy was holding him way too tight to be normal._

_"Yani, I-I am so sorry!" daddy had said. He wasn't angry anymore. That was one good thing. But Yanis had the mother of all ouchies. His whole face hurt. It stung so badly._

_"Daddy, it hurts" Yanis said, tears still pooling in his pale blue eyes and streaming down his cheeks._

_"I know Yani, I know" daddy said, lifting Yanis up and out to the kitchen. He sat the child down on the counter and started to tend to the cut on his cheek. The sharp pain subsided to a dull thump and Yanis found he was able to stop crying now. It didn't take Yassen long to clean up the cut and Yanis was rather pleased with his Goombear plaster._

_Then, daddy did something unbelievable. He got up to leave. To leave. Leaving._

_"DADDY! DON'T GO! I'm SORRY!" Yanis pleaded._

_Daddy looked back once and then left. He just walked out the door, closing it behind him. Yanis sobbed quietly and slept on the counter that night, his tears making a little pool of sadness beside him._

"John, I need you to open the door. Otherwise the policemen are going to have to break it".

Yanis frowned. What was the new craze of breaking down doors? First daddy, now Dave. Yanis padded out to the door and stood on the tips of his toes to look out the peep-hole. Yep, Dave was there. And four pleesmen. And- oh no!- the maintenance man! Who was sliding his set of keys into the lock.

Yanis sprinted as fast as his tiny legs could carry into the living room. He flung himself behind the sofa and crouched, holding his breath.

The door opened and Yanis heard the five men spread out to look for him. He peeked out behind a corner of the sofa and bit back a gasp. One of pleesemen was in the living room. And he was looking straight at Yanis.

The little boy gulped. He had a feeling that this wasn't going to be a good day.

* * *

The day was grey. Curtains of rain were drawn around the car.

"Nearly there", said Dave, "your new home".

Yanis sucked his thumb and frowned out the window. The street they were on was wide with large houses on both sides. But they didn't look like happy houses. They were all glued together.

_Daddy will come and get me. Daddy will come and get me. Daddy **will** come and get me._

Yanis ignored Dave who was chattering about something and instead kicked the policeman beside him.

"Oi, kid, watch it!" the policeman replied harshly.

Yanis's scowl deepened. He was tired and angry and bored at the same time. Dave slowed the car down and finally pulled over outside one of the big houses. A sign on the gate said 'Shrewsbury Road Children's Care Home'. Of course, Yanis had no idea what it said seeing as he couldn't read.

A woman stood outside the house and smiled at him widely. He blew a rather loud, rather sloppy raspberry at her. He made sure to get dribble on the policeman, just to annoy him. Even by a small child's standards, Yanis could be pretty damn petty.

Dave got of the car to speak to the woman, who kept smiling at Yanis. Then, she actually had the cheek to tell him he was going to be very happy there! Happy!? Without his daddy!? That was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Yanis started kicking the seat in front of him with frustration. He pummeled his tiny fists off his seat. He screeched. The policeman reached out to restrain him and Yanis bit him. Hard.

Dave opened the car door and tried to pull the small boy out. Yanis gripped the car door, shrieking loudly. He kicked Dave in the face. He clung to the seat. And when Dave finally did drag him out of the car Yanis flopped to the ground. It took a full half hour, four policemen and two social workers to get Yanis through the door.

As soon as he was inside he sprinted as fast as he could out into the garden. He reached the gate before one of the swifter policemen grabbed him and carried him back inside despite a resistance based on biting. Yanis clung the door frame but finally, after another forty five minutes of kicking and punching and scratching and shrieking, Yanis was restrained under one of the policemen. The one he'd bitten first. Probably had a huge grudge for that little incident.

Yanis continued screeching loudly despite Dave's warnings, begs, threats and attempted sanctions. But one child can only shriek without halt for so long. Dave waited until Yanis had tired himself to as close to silence as he was going to get. And then he spoke.

"John", that brought on another shriek of frustration, "I understand that you're very mad at me", another shriek, this one not quite as loud, "but I was only doing what I thought was best". Dave waited for the next spat of shrieks. More biting. A few kicks, perhaps. But all he got was the quiet noise of Yanis's breathing levelling out. Dave smiled to himself. The kid had fallen asleep right there, under a policeman.

He was kind of cute when he wasn't biting. Or kicking. Or punching. Or doing anything likely to injure people. Dave noticed the cut on the boy's face. Probably the father. Poor kid. That dad had looked like a serious nutter.

But a kid like John, despite his rather vicious temper, would get snapped up so fast at Shrewsbury Road that he'd have a new family before he could spell daddy.

* * *

"Jack, it's crazy! C'mon, you've got me. And I'm sure you'll get married soon"

"No Alex, no I won't. Look, I read about this place and I just really want to help. Some of the kids have the saddest stories. And it's not adopting, it's just fostering. Nothing too concrete. Admit it, you'd like to have a kid around the house"

"No, I think it's fine as it is. Besides, there's a lot of work involved with a kid. You have to clean it and feed it-"

"You make it sound like a dog. I think it would be great"

"I don't. It's just another person I'm going to have to explain disappearing to. MI6 will just use this against me"

"Alex, we could change a kid's life tomorrow. These kids have been neglected or abused or abandoned. We have a big house. Plenty of food. Plenty of money. I landed on my feet working for your uncle. And now I think I owe it to his memory that I help someone less fortunate than me. Just like he helped me Al"

"But- We can't- Fine. You win"

"This is going to be great Al! Like a fairy tale or something"

"Okay Jack. We'll do it"

"You sure? If you really don't think we should, I won't push you on it"

"No, we will. It's like you said. We could change someones life tomorrow"

* * *

(Thusforth Yanis shall be called John)

Dave watched carefully as John stood against the wall of his office, his nose touching the wall and his hands behind his back. The door opened a crack and one of Dave's friend's, Richard Aldous, slipped quietly in.

"What's he been up to now?" Richard asked, jerking his thumb at John.

Dave rolled his eyes. "What hasn't he been up to? I can't turn my gaze away for a second before he throws a tantrum. Or slaps someone. Or refuses to get dressed. Or throws his food at Jane. Or colours all over my office. Or breaks someone else's toy. Or pulls the phone out of the wall. Or trys to make an escape via the front door. Or bites me. Or-"

"I feel for you mate" Richard interrupted, smiling sympathetically.

Dave smiled back and John turned and ran for the door. Dave legged it after him and scooped up the struggling boy. All he received for his trouble was a bite and a shriek. Dave set the child back on his feet at the wall and held him facing towards it.

"John, stay here. I told you already. Five consecutive minutes time out and then you can leave" Dave chastised. John blew a raspberry in his face and Dave straightened back to his full height to resume his conversation with Richard.

"How long have you been trying to make the naughty corner work here?" asked Richard curiously.

"An hour and a half. He's being a sulky little g-i-t. Jane was trying to ask him what flavour squash did he want and he threw his pasta all over her. So I took him aside and read him the riot act. Warned him he was on his last chance. And then the little bugger bit me" Dave explained, rubbing his hand where small bite marks were visible.

"Yeah, I noticed that he uses those chompers of his to great effect. He bit one of my wards yesterday. Being a little p-r-i-c-k. What's wrong with him anyway? Misses his dad I suppose" Richard inquired politely.

"Yeah. Dad was a real n-u-t-t-e-r. Just vanished. I've been trying to get hold of him for days. Can't get a number or anything. The Carr family are coming tomorrow, aren't they? I'll keep him in here during their little poke around. He'd only put even more pressure on everyone. Besides, they're not looking for any kid who'll give them any t-r-o-u-b-l-e" Dave replied.

He rubbed the back of his neck. He was concerned about John's father. Mr. Beckett had disappeared. He'd left the country and Dave had no idea how. All he knew was that John wasn't going to give him a single word about his father's whereabouts.

"Y-a-n-i-s" John spelt from the wall. He didn't even bother turning around to face the two men. He didn't see that Dave and Richard were staring at his back.

"John, what are you doing?" Dave asked, puzzled. He decided to forget the rule about silence while in time out.

"I can say my aphlabet and spell my name. J-k-l-m-n-o-p" John replied. Dave smiled. At least he'd calmed down and stopped biting. He didn't know if he could cope with any more biting. Or kicking. Or shrieking.

"Well done kiddo" Richard complimented. He reached out and ruffled John's hair. It was soft and feathery to touch. John pulled back from the contact and glared at Richard, his eyes narrowed to slits.

Richard turned away from the boy and resumed his conversation with Dave.

"You look wrecked" he observed politely. It was true. Dave's usually meticulous brown hair was greasy and in a mess. He had huge black bags under his brown eyes and he looked like he hadn't slept in days. He had little bruises on his hands and multiple bite marks. He hadn't shaved in two days and stubble was starting to form on his chin.

"I am. I haven't slept for more than a few hours the past few days. John's been keeping me up 'til the most ungodly hours. He won't just go to bed. He fights and argues and yells the place down. I end having to take him into my office with paper and a few crayons. I wait until he stops throwing the mother of all tantrums which usually lasts an hour. Then I give him the paper and colours. I do my paperwork while he sits quietly and does pictures. He usually drops of around four, I finish my paperwork at six and then I sleep until he wakes up at seven" Dave explained.

Richard whistled and blew out his cheeks.

"On the plus side, I'm ahead of paperwork for the first time in years" Dave joked good naturedly.

Richard winced. He and Dave had been friends for a few years and he'd never seen Dave so knackered. Dave was an important cornerstone of the house and the other kids absolutely worshipped him. It was selfish of John to take up so much of the social worker's time.

"Dave, why don't we go get a coffee? I'll get one of the older kids to mind him in here and you can take a little break from the little s-n-o-t" Richard offered.

Dave bit his bottom lip. He was really tempted by that offer. He could use a drink. And a break. John was exhausting him. But could he really trust one of the older kids to mind him properly? Probably not. But he'd worry about that later. So long as John didn't get out of the office things would be fine.

Dave nodded and Richard grinned.

"Great. Just wait here while I get someone to come down" Richard said, crossing the room in two big steps.

Dave watched his friend leave and then crouched down to John's height. John blinked sleepily and scowled at Dave.

"John, I'm going to get a coffee now. If you're a good boy I'll get you an ice cream when I get back" Dave said. He berated himself inwardly. He had reached an all time low. Bribery. He'd never had to resort to that before.

John didn't seem to be impressed by the word ice cream but he offered no cry of dismay at the idea of Dave leaving him. To be honest, Dave was a little hurt by that. He'd spent days trying to look after this kid. Trying to make things alright for him. And the boy just did not care. Dave had empathy for the kid. Poor little guy had been wrenched away from everything he knew, separated from the person who he trusted and loved.

Because Dave knew John was a really great kid. Intelligent, cute, funny. He had everything going for him. Dave had a feeling John was just angry. Angry and scared. And maybe a bit lonely. He was just a vulnerable kid who wanted his dad.

Richard reappeared with a grumpy looking teenage boy. The boy glared at Richard and Dave.

"Okay. Harry this is John. John this is Harry" Richard introduced the two lazily. Dave straightened up and exited the office with a worried glance back at John. The boy was just staring at Dave's desk.

As soon as the door closed, Harry slumped back into Dave's comfy swivel chair and eyed John. Harry was clearly uneasy around small children. He seemed to be debating whether he should eat John, slap him or hug him. In the end he settled for a nod.

John scuffed his feet on the floor and eyed the phone on Dave's desk.

_Daddy has a phone_. A half finished, childishly thought up plan started to form in his mind. He replayed in his head a conversation he had conducted with daddy a few months ago.

_Yanis watched his daddy pacing from one side of the room to the window and then back again. He wasn't smiling and he didn't look too happy. Yanis hugged Jimjam bunny to his chest. Jimjam bunny was a floppy, stuffed rabbit that daddy had bought him for Christmas the year he was born. Jimjam was a pale blue colour and Yanis clung to him on the sofa._

_"Why're you walking daddy?" Yanis asked, waiting for his daddy to do something._

_His daddy looked at him and then sat down on the sofa beside him. He looked serious. Yanis burrowed into his daddy's side. His daddy draped an arm around him. There. He was as snug as a bug in a rug._

_"Yani, listen to me. I want you to remember these numbers, alright? There's only five of them. 9-2-6-4-7. Alright?" his daddy recited._

_Yanis stared blankly back at him. __His daddy had sighed real loud._

_"Yani, remember I taught you to spell your name?" his daddy said. Yanis nodded into his daddy's side. He did remember that. Daddy had teached it to him when he was teaching him the aphlabet._

_"Y-a-n-i-s", Yanis said proudly, "see daddy? I 'member it really really really good, don't I?"._

_Daddy had finally smiled. He nodded at Yanis and Yanis giggled._

_"Yani, you're a big boy now. So I need you to listen really closely to me. If I'm ever away and you need me. And I mean really need me. I mean you've been kidnapped or you're trapped underground. Not for little things. Just huge problems. I want you to find a phone. Okay? And on the buttons there'll be letters. Just spell your name with those letters and I'll be able to talk to you. Remember that. Alright?"._

_Yanis nodded seriously. He privately promised himself that he would be a big boy and only ever do what daddy said if something really really really really bad happened. Like he died or turned into a girl._

_"You promise me Yanis? Promise me right now" his daddy said. Now he looked really really really really worried._

_"Yep. I promise daddy" Yanis replied._

_His daddy sat back and sighed again. Yanis had cuddled deeper into him. He tucked away the lecture at the back of his head, in case he'd need it again. He'd promised daddy. And he wouldn't let him down._

"Harry" he said quietly. The teenager studied John with curiosity. This was the brat who was keeping Dave busy all the time. And busy Dave meant less frequent room searches. And that was okay with Harry.

"Yeah?" he replied. The kid was cute. He had huge grey eyes and dark blond hair that just hung over his forehead. Little pearl white teeth. Cute little button nose and face. Tiny little fingers. Scratch that. He was _really_ cute. Harry had lived in the house all his life. He'd been around. He knew the score. People didn't want teenagers like him. They wanted little kids like John.

"Can I use the phone?" John asked. This was good, Harry thought to himself. The kid wasn't screaming or biting. From what he'd heard, those were the two activities John kept up 'til all hours.

Harry considered. Dave wouldn't be pleased if he let John use the phone. But the kid would throw a serious tantrum if Harry refused him permission. He decided to compromise.

"Well, I'm leaving now. So do what you want" he said, getting up and exiting the room.

Harry paused for a minute outside the door then took off up the stairs. It wasn't his job to look after the little punk. That was Dave's lookout. Besides, what harm could one little phonecall do?

John grinned and walked across to the desk, pulling himself into the newly vacant chair. He hesitated for a minute before picking up the talking part of the phone. He studied the buttons. There were letters on them. Y-a-n-i-s. A beeping noise came through the listening side and then, almost miraculously, John heard his Daddy's voice.

"Hello?". Daddy sounded really stressy. _He misses me! _John thought. He'd been thinking about it over the past few days and when he was colouring he thought, almost guiltily, that maybe daddy didn't want him back.

"Daddy, it's me!" he whispered. He had a suspicion he should keep his voice down.

"Yani, thank god! Where are you? Are you okay? Do you know the address you're at?" daddy asked.

_I'm five years old buster. How the hell I'm I a'posed to know?_

At least daddy sounded happy. He wasn't angry or anything. So he must want his son back. Maybe he'd come get him and eat Dave.

"Daddy, I'm in Dave's office. And he taked me. And I miss you lots, lots, lots, lots, lots, lots! And I want Jimjam bunny but he's back at home and I miss Mr. Krust and I want to go home! Daddy, I'm sorry I was bold and I locked the toilet door and I'm sorry I didn't hide better than the sofa daddy. I love you very, very, very, very, very, very, very much daddy. And if you come get me then I'll never, ever, ever, ever cry when you leave again and I'll be a big boy. I promise" John said, the words tumbling out of his mouth.

"Yanis I miss you too. But I need you to tell me where you are so that I can come get you" daddy said.

"Daddy it's a big lellow house. And it has lots and lots of kids. And. And. And. Um. That's it" John said, trailing off. He realised he had no idea where he was. But how many yellow houses could there be in London?

His daddy let out a noise somewhere between a growl and a sigh.

"Yanis, I need an address. Not a fractured description" daddy snapped.

John frowned.

"Sorry daddy" he mumbled.

"Yani, I'm not mad at you! I love you. It's just that I'm very mad at Dave. You're brilliant, by the way. Absolutely amazing. Well done. You were great at remembering the number" daddy said.

John beamed. Daddy was so great!

"Daddy, how will I get the address?" John asked. Daddy would know how to do it. Daddy knew everything. He was so clever.

"Ask one of the older children living there" daddy answered. John grinned. Daddy was right. Maybe Harry would know the address. Or one of the other big kids. He'd have to get away from Dave to ask someone.

"Okay daddy. Are you looking after Jimjam bunny real good? Don't forget daddy, he likes carrots and ham. And you has to feed him every day or he'll be very very very very very angry. I miss you lots daddy! Everyone here's so mean. And Jane said I'm a bold boy. And I don't want to be bold daddy, but Dave is really bossy and he won't tell me where you are and I want to give you a big hug. Don't forget to give Jimjam bunny a hug too, daddy. He loves you a lot and he wants to sleep in your bed until I get back" John said.

His daddy sighed and muttered something. John only caught 'that kid' 'that bunny' 'hugs' and 'ridiculous'. John heard a bark of laughter in the background. Where was daddy? Was he with Mr. Krust?

"Daddy, I have to go now. 'Cause I'm gonna go find Dave. I'll call you tomorrow night. 'Kay?" John said. He had a somewhat hairbrained scheme worked out. He was going to be a good boy and find out the address and then ring daddy.

"Alright. Make sure you do. And remember. You're a big boy. Big boys don't get scared" daddy said.

John heard another bark of laughter in the background and an exclamation in Russian. His daddy said something to whoever it was and John smiled to himself. It was nice to talk to daddy.

"Daddy, I love you" he said honestly. He did love his daddy. He loved him lots. And if it came down to it, he'd probably pick daddy over Jimjam bunny any day of the week. Probably.

"I love you too Yani" his daddy replied. Another bark of laughter in the background.

"Bye daddy" John said, putting down the phone before he heard his daddy reply. All of a sudden, he felt a wave of sadness pass over him. Before he could comprehend what was happening he was sobbing loudly. How long he sat on the chair weeping he didn't know. It felt like a few minutes but in reality it had to be at least half an hour. Finally, he stirred himself to action.

He rubbed his eyes on the back of his hands and then got to his feet. He toddled out of the office and down the passageway to where he knew the staffroom was. He used all his strength and weight to shove the door open a crack and then he slipped in. He was still crying, but not as loudly.

Immediately, Dave looked across at him, alarm written all over his face. Dave set his coffee down and crossed the room in two big steps. He crouched down beside the small boy and scanned him quickly. He didn't look injured.

"Dave, I'm sorry I was a bold boy" John said quietly. _I'm not really. I just want to see my daddy? Is that so wrong?_

Richard smiled and exited the room through the patio door, sliding it shut behind him. He understood when private time was needed with small children.

"That's okay. Are you tired? Do you want me to bring you upstairs to the spare room?" Dave asked, concerned.

John nodded sleepily. _I guess I am tired. And a bed sounds great._

Dave lifted the boy up by his waist and melted his arms to accommodate John. He walked slowly out of the staffroom and started up the stairs, listening to the tears the little boy was still leaking. John sobbed and his whole body wrenched. John carried the boy into the spare room and set him down in the newly made up bed. John curled into a ball and pulled the blanket over himself.

Dave took advantage of the moment and studied John very carefully. He was very pale. Dave had noticed that the first time he's seen him. His hair was tufty, like feathers, and hung over his forehead in an adorable way. He had long eyelashes, just like his father. He had a button nose and inside his mouth he had a Colgate set of teeth. Well, not really a set. At least, not currently. He was still very short. Perhaps even a little shorter than other children his age. Dave allowed himself a smile as John's breathing evened out.

It was only just half past eight. Time to start rounding up the smaller kids for bed. He debated whether he should finish his coffee or lock up his office first. He'd finish his coffee, he decided. And maybe have a celebratory second mug with Richard. After all, it was the first night John had actually slept in a bed. Dave pushed away the suspicions to the back of his mind. John had finally turned a corner.

Dave turned to leave the room, switching off the light as he left.

John waited ten whole minutes before sitting up. He was still feeling lonely and upset and he wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep. But he had things to do. Phonecalls to make. If he called daddy again tonight, he'd be there by morning. John slipped out of the bed and padded silently out of the spare room. He looked up and down the hallway. It was really quiet.

He knew the big kids slept on the higher floors of the house. So, with that thought in mind, he stumbled forward and up a flight of stairs. That hallway was deserted too. Where were all the other kids?

He peeked into a few of the rooms. They were all plastered with posters and toys were all over the floor. John climbed another flight of stairs. A few girls were sitting in the hallway playing a game. But John was still at the age where girls had cooties and he didn't relish the idea of a serious infection when he returned to his daddy.

He could hear someone pacing in one of the rooms and he poked his head around the door.

"_GET THE HELL OUT OF MY ROOM YOU LITTLE PRICK!"._

John backed out of the room swiftly, startled by the roar. The door slammed in his face and he raised two flaxen eyebrows. _Well _he thought indignantly to himself. He walked to the stairs and paused at the bottom one. He looked back over his shoulder and then he climbed up to the top floor.

Loud music was blaring from one of the bedrooms. John followed the noise and it led him to a half open door. He glanced up and down the corridor. It was a pale green. Sort of icky looking. There were four doors on each side of the hall. No-one knew he was up here. If Dave found out, he'd never get to call his daddy again. He'd better hurry.

He slipped in through the door and looked around the room. It was empty. John pushed away the bitter disappointment in the pit of his stomach and turned to leave the room when he heard a grunt.

A bleary eyed teenager appeared from under the bed. He must have been looking for something.

The music drowned out any opportunity for conversation. The words pounded off the walls and reverberated out the door. John pressed his hands over his ears as the teen scrambled for the iPod dock.

_Baby, I'm going on an airplane,  
And I don't know if I'll be back again.  
Sure enough, I sent the plane tickets,  
But when she came to kick it, things became different.  
Any girl I cheated on, sheets I skeeted on._

The teen bashed the iPod dock and the music cut off abruptly. The teenager flopped down on his bed and pulled a magazine open to read. He didn't seem the lsightest bit perturbed by a small child wandering into his room.

"Shut the door kid, will you?" the boy said. John did as he was asked and then sat down on the end of the teenager's bed. He studied the room's occupant carefully. He had black hair that was gelled up with spikes and big green eyes. The teen smiled crookedly at John and John grinned back.

"What's your name kid? I'm Stevie".

John considered. Stevie was a nice name. And Stevie wasn't related to him. So John was the name Stevie had to call him. But his name was Yanis. The whole affair was rather confusing.

"I'm John" John said.

Stevie closed the magazine and John glanced at it quickly. He couldn't read it but the cover had a big bunny on it. Interesting. And a woman. She was really pretty and she was smiling out at him. John's eyebrows furrowed. What kind of magazine had bunnies and women in it? Probably a boring one.

"What'cha doing up here?" Stevie asked. Stevie studied the younger boy closely. Nice kid. Had an honest face.

The door of the room opened and a girl entered. She glared at Stevie and somehow managed to simultaneously wink at John. The girl was an inch or so shorter than Stevie. She had died blond hair and big blue eyes. She was wearing lots of make-up. John tried to wink back but it turned into a blink instead and the girl laughed loudly.

"What's the kid doing here?" she asked Stevie.

Stevie shrugged and John turned on his 'I'm a good boy, let me stay' smile. The girl beamed at him and picked up. She sat and placed him in her lap and John let her pet his hair gently.

"You're John, right? The new kid? I'm Jessie. What are you doing all the way up here? Shouldn't you be in bed?" the girl, Jessie, asked. She was wearing fake nails and they felt comforting in John's hair.

"I want to know the address" John asked, plucking up his courage. He had to get the address quickly or he wouldn't have time to call his daddy. Jessie looked puzzled but she nodded with a grin.

"'Course. Can you read half-pint?" she asked. John shook his head and she smiled at him and then at Stevie, who was watching with detached interest.

"He's adorable, isn't he?" she said, stroking John's hair. Stevie shrugged dismissively and Jessie frowned at him. Stevie ignored the frown and got to his feet. He pulled on a cap and then sat down beside Jessie.

"Okay John, you'll have to remember this then. Sixty-four Shrewsbury Road, Stratford, Greater London, E7 8. Got that?" Jessie said. John frowned and tried to remember the words. Sixty-four Shrewsboy Road, Ratford. No wait. It was Sixty-four Shrewsbury Road, Stratford. That was it.

John nodded and got to his feet.

"You're not leaving already, are you?" Jessie asked. She looked disappointed. Stevie rolled his eyes behind her back and draped and arm casually across her shoulder. Jessie reached out and petted John's hair one more time.

"I gots to go. But I'll see you" John said hurriedly. Jessie pulled gently away from Stevie and crouched down to John's height. She kissed his forehead and, strangely, John felt no urge to scream 'Go away you cootie infested girl!'.

John hurried out of the room and stumbled back down the stairs. He nearly tripped twice. But he persisted and finally reached Dave's office. Thankfully, the door wasn't locked. John slipped in and lifted himself into the chair. Y-a-n-i-s. Once again he pushed the buttons. He clutched the talking part of the phone to him and waited for his daddy to answer.

"Hello?".

"Daddy, it's me. I gots the address. It's number sixty-four Shrewsbury Road, Stratford" John said excitedly. He didn't even bother announcing himself to his daddy, he just fired away. Daddy wouldn't mind.

"What? Hold on a second, let me get a pen" daddy said. John listened as his daddy scrambled around in the background hunting for a pen. John smiled. It was nice to hear what daddy was doing.

"Alright. Sixty-four Shrewsbury Road, Stratford? Well done Yanis. Zeljan would be very proud of you. Now, I need you to listen up. I want you to find a coat and wait outside. Just sit quietly behind a bin or between two cars and don't touch anything. Okay? Don't talk to anyone. Don't wander away. And, most importantly, don't let anyone from the house see you. Alright?".

"Yep. Daddy, will you come and get me? Is that why I have to wait outside? Daddy, I made a new friend. Her name's Jessie and she petted me and cuddled me and she's really really really nice daddy! Don't forget about Jimjam bunny. Okay? 'Member to feed him and cuddle him and let him sleep in your bed. 'Kay?" John said cheeerfully.

"Yanis, could you do that for me? I mean it. If someone passes with a dog don't get up and pet it, alright? Just wait. Yes, I'll come and get you. And then we're going to fly to Tunisia for a holiday" daddy explained not-so-patiently.

"Why're we going to Tunasea? Did I do something bad?" John asked, his voice quiet and sad. He'd never been to Tunasea before. Maybe it was a place for bad boys to go so that they weren't allowed see their daddy's.

"Tu-nis-i-a Yanis. Not Tunasea. No, you didn't do anything bad. Tunisia is nice. You'll like it a lot" daddy said. John got the feeling daddy wasn't in the mood to answer questions. But still. Tu-nis-i-a didn't sound nice. Daddy only ever said 'you'll like it a lot' when he knew John wouldn't like what was about to happen. Like when daddy had taken him swimming. John didn't like that a lot. Or when daddy talked him into trying rice pudding. John didn't like that a lot either.

"Okay daddy. I'll go outside now and be quiet and hide. I won't talk to anyone daddy, I promise" John said.

He waited for a reply but all he heard was the dialling tone. _He hung up on me! _John blinked back tears and frowned. Daddy being mean would have to wait for now. He had a checklist of things to do.

1- Find a coat.

2- Hide and be really really really quiet until Daddy came and rescued him.

Simple enough. In theory. John padded out of the office and looked up and down the corridor. He looked around defensively and then opened the cupboard where the coats were kept. He pulled out an over sized blue Columbia jacket and slipped into it. He was practically swimming in it. The sleeves hung over his hands and he had to roll them back multiple times to use his fingers.

Cautiously, he made his way to the front door and opened it silently. He hurried out and down the garden. So far so good. He opened the gate and creeped out. The road was deserted but plenty of cars were parked in it. John slipped into the crack between two Mini Cooper and hugged his knees to his chest for warmth. He felt his eyelids droop.

All he had to do now was wait.

* * *

**Chapter is over. Go get on with your life.**


	3. Just A Moment Of Change

**_Wow. Another long overdue update. Another step down the path. This story needs some serious work. Anyway, I hope you aren't too mad about having to wait so long. I do apologize for that. This chapter just wouldn't seem to come._**

**_Alex will become more of a narrator in the next few chapters. Jack's take just seemed more natural from this one. Any grammar or spelling you see, please notify me. I hope you're all still reading and reviewing, though I understand if you aren't._**

**_The chapter title comes from 'OneRepublic - All We Are'._**

* * *

Jack Starbright jumped in her hard chair, nearly spilling coffee all over her lap when she heard the footsteps behind her. Living with two Rider men had made her suspicious of quiet footsteps, knowing that any who could walk quietly was a potential threat.

Jack frowned. Even to her that didn't make any sense at all.

"Are you Miss Starbright?" a male voice sidled into Jack's ear. It sounded a bit upset and scared. And sleep deprived, Jack mused to herself. She turned slowly and took in the man behind her. He was a few inches taller than Jack with unkempt brown hair, anxiously exhausted brown eyes and stubble. Jack nodded silently to his question and glanced around, suddenly longing for Alex to return from the drinks machine.

"I'm Dave Wallace. I'm John's social worker".

Jack's gaze trickled back to the small boy int he bed. He was unnaturally pale and still and he seemed even smaller than he had when Jack had found him. She hadn't meant to find him in the first place. She'd nearly run over him. He'd been lying behind a Mini Cooper when Jack pulled into the space beside him, totally oblivious to the boy.

Alex had grabbed the hand brake and jumped out of the car in two seconds flat before Jack even registered what was happening. The left front wheel of the car had stopped six inches from the boy's head.

Jack shivered at the thought of how easily things could have gone wrong and turned her attention back to Dave. So he was the man the care home had sent over. Jack took his outstretched hand and shook it politely. Dave sat in the other hospital chair and watched the boy, his eyes haunted with worry.

"I put him to bed. I made sure he was asleep but he must have-" Dave trailed off guiltily.

Jack understood what he was saying. If anything like this had happened to Alex when he was younger, Jack would have felt guilty, worried, afraid and a whole flood of other emotions. Dave looked suitably devastated.

"Does he often try to run away?" Jack asked, her eyes never leaving the boy's face. It was pale and peaky and looked strangely washed against the sterile white sheets of the hospital bed. His feet only reached halfway down the blanket, Jack realized with a huge lump springing up in her throat.

"Yes. No. He's only been with us for a few days. His dad was neglecting him. Didn't have him in school. Had to take John into care. He wanted his dad. Was really angry and upset about it" Dave replied listlessly, staring at his hands.

"Why are you telling me this?" Jack asked, slightly puzzled.

"I'm not sure. You look like you care. I told his father I wouldn't have to take John if he just obeyed the guidelines I gave him. Stay in the country. Get John a place in school. But he just vanished. A neighbour told us he'd heard John crying. Poor little guy had been left all alone. And not for the first time" Dave said softly, his voice low and sad.

Alex reappeared and handed Jack a plastic cup full of steaming coffee. He was sipping a can of Coke, as usual. Jack shrugged off the lecture she could feel coming about the evil properties of Coke. Good God, she'd lost the will to scold. All she could think of was the tiny boy lying in the over sized bed, his face practically camouflaging with the white pillowcases his head rested on.

"I want to foster John. As soon as he's better" Jack said determinedly.

* * *

**Two Weeks Later**

Jack rubbed the palms of her hands against the sides of her jeans nervously. Alex stood beside her patiently, uncharacteristically stoic. He'd been like that a lot since he'd returned from Australia. It was one of the reasons Jack was so anxious to take on another child.

Perhaps having someone small to help look after would give Alex a bit more sense of self. After all, Jack had been going through a rough patch when she'd arrived in England. Looking after Alex made her feel less worthless than she did. But still, maybe she should call Dave. Tell him the whole thing was off. Tell him she wasn't ready. She really wasn't.

But then she would be backing down. If Alex could stand silently, waiting for their live's to change, she could too. She would wait and be brave.

"Jack, Alex, this is John. He's, uh, very pleased to meet you" Dave announced, leading a small parcel of a boy into the interview room. It was a bare chamber on the ground floor of the Children's Home on Shrewsbury Road, rather than anything fancy. It held two child sized chairs on one side of a table and two adult sized chairs on the other. A few toys languished in the corner, a stuffed monkey propped up against the wall watching the proceedings haughtily.

John trotted into the room and sat down in one of the plastic, children's chairs with a look of sulky acceptance on his face. Dave watched the child with his head poked in the door for a minute before turning his gaze to Jack with a wide grin plastered on his face.

"If he starts playing up, just leave him to it in here and come outside. My office is just down the corridor", he said cheerfully before addressing John, "And you, little man. No monkey business".

"Bite me!" John snapped in reply without looking back.

Dave rolled his eyes and smiled once more at Jack before pulling his head back and closing the door tightly. Jack felt suddenly very vulnerable. John sat forward and rested his head on his folded arms before springing up and scowling at Alex. Then, completely out of the blue, Alex pulled a face in reply.

Looking back, it made Jack smile. She'd never put Alex down as the face-pulling type. But then again, Alex had no siblings. No younger brother to pull faces at. Jack was delighted when John let out a giggle of laughter.

Alex glanced edgily over at his guardian. He wasn't sure why he'd made a face. He supposed it was the most sophisticated form of comedy for five year olds.

Jack swallowed once slowly and pulled together every single morsel of courage she had. She was terrified to speak to a child and she had no idea why.

"John, my name is Jack Starbright. And this is Alex. Alex Rider. We've heard all about you from Dave. And we, I, we wanted to visit you and just have a little chat" Jack said, taking a long pause at the end of her sentence, embarrassment heating her face.

"I like your name lots. I wish I had Star in my name. I don't like Dave. He's mean. He telled me my daddy left but daddy had to and he's coming back for me tomorrow 'cause I know he'd never ever ever leave me all alone for long 'cause he promised. I miss daddy lots and lots and lots. I s'pose if I knew my mummy I'd miss her too but I never knowed my mummy. My daddy says she's not very nice though and he told Mr. Krust that she's a c-o-w. That spells cow. And I've never seen a cow but daddy says that's where milk comes from and I like milk lots. Do you?".

It was incredible how much air the small boy could fill his two lungs with, enabling him to launch into an overly long statement. Jack had been the same as a child but still, it sounded like an awful lot of words for someone so short to come out with.

"Yes, I do like milk. But John, how would you feel about-"

"I like your hair too. It's orange like carrots. I love carrots even though they don't taste 'specially nice 'cause they let you see in the dark. My daddy says so. One time I was sick and it was orange. My daddy once had orange hair but it's s'posed to be blond. I like you. If I got to choose my mummy, I'd prob'bly pick you 'cause I don't know lots of girls and I like your hair. My daddy would like you too but I don't want you two to kiss like in the movies 'cause that's icky and daddy never kisses girls. He kisses me goodnight 'cause he loves me but not every night 'cause Mr. Krust says kissing boys is gay and daddy says that means happy so I'm not sure why. My daddy's not really a big kiss person 'cause it's so icky. But one time he cried 'cause I wouldn't get dressed and that was when he was sniffing baby powder" John rambled idly, interrupting Jack.

Jack smiled. She thought the boy's monologues were adorable, if a bit confusing. She broke down the wave of information into different parts. Hmmm. He liked her hair. She felt good about the mummy comment. It was cute that he thought kissing was 'icky'. The remark about his father kissing him goodnight was funny. And then baby powder. He'd lost her at that point.

"What do you mean John?" Jack asked, feeling all her awkwardness slip away. It was replaced almost immediatly with the tender bud of love she knew would bloom. Already she wanted to cuddle him and put plasters on his knees if they were skinned and tuck him in and walk him to school and tell him off for not doing homework.

"Kissing is icky. Yucky. 'isgustin" John replied slowly, struggling over his proclamation of disgust.

"No, about the baby powder. About daddy sniffing it" Jack prompted. Alex leaned forward in his seat and both watched as the boy went from cheerful to miserable in less than a second.

His lower lip quivered and tears shimmied into his eyes. Jack wanted to just jump the table and cuddle him, to reassure him that everything would be alright no matter what.

"D-daddy used to sniff white stuff like baby powder. 'Cause he was real upset when I was small. 'Cause mummy left me with him and he was really 'pressed. And I was being bold and he couldn't c-c-cope" John said, sobbing.

Jack didn't really know what to make of it. So his father was some abusive, crackhead asshole. No wonder Dave had taken John into care. How anybody could be that bad around a five year old as perfect as John just left Jack totaly speechless. And angry.

What kind of idiot wouldn't value having a kid like John? Jack almost felt a little bit jealous of the idiot he had for a father who was actually related to him. Woah. Backtrack. She was getting a little bit too attached to John. But he just seemed so right for them. Perfect.

"Dave telled me you wanna be my mummy. He said it right outside to me. He telled me not to be mean or angry 'cause then you wouldn't want me anymore. I'm sorry I cried. Do you still want me, mummy?" John asked, turning his huge pale blue eyes on Jack.

_Don't look. Don't cry. Don't look at that sweet little face, all pleading and- CRAP! Now we have to take him._

Alex shifted slightly in his seat. He wasn't really comfortable with this line of discussion. It felt a little like manipulation at the hands of a five year old, and Alex certainly wasn't comfortable with that. He could just picture what having a five year old who was deceptively good at wrapping Jack around his little finger living with them would be like. Ice-cream every meal. Barney constantly on T.V. The thought didn't do well to bode upon.

"Of course I do. Of course I do. I would love to be your mummy" Jack said.

Alex bit back the urge to roll his eyes. This kid was good, he'd give him that.

"What 'bout Alex? Will he be my big brother?" John asked, turning his Bambi eyes on the teenager. Alex could feel his natural male resistance to anything cute crumbling away much too rapidly to be good. He gritted his teeth and tried to ignore feeling that his insides were turning to maternal goop.

"No. I'd be your... Well, I'm not sure really. Not foster siblings, anyway" Alex said matter-of-factly, earning himself a solid kick under the table from Jack. John's lower lip trembled again and his eyes filled up with doubt and fear of rejection.

"Alex doesn't want me, does he?" John said, his voice wobbling at the thought. That was when Alex finally broke and gave in to the power of manipulation that John wielded like a sword. John even got up from his seat and started plodding towards the door, shoulders slumped. He looked as rejected and unhappy as a five year old could.

Alex cleared his throat, happily resigned to making an ass of himself.

"Of course I want you to be my little brother" he said, biting back the urge to coo in a baby voice at the five year old.

An ear to ear grin split John's face and he rushed over, leaping on top of the table. Jack laughed loudly clapping and Alex just watched silently as the five year old punched the air in triumph. "Yes! YES! I HAVE A MUMMY!" he yelped triumphantly.

Alex glanced around the room and shivered slightly. The monkey teddy in the corner looked much too knowing for a stuffed animal. Jack wrapped her arms around John, engulfing him in a loving bear hug. Alex lingered awkwardly, not sure what to do. Emotional moments weren't exactly his strong point.

Little did Alex know that nearly two hundred miles away Yassen Gregorovich was vomiting into a mangy toilet, earphones still plugged in, transmitting from the bugging device. He listened to his son's exuberant cheers and knew that he was losing him.

As bile spilled into the toilet, the stench catching in Yassen's nostrils, he silently prayed to a God he didn't believe in that he hadn't lost him already.

* * *

**_Did we have fun or what? I'll explain the whole Yassen thing in the next chapter. And what happened with the whole escape thing, that will be clarified too. I just wanted to confuse you a bit with this chapter (MWAH!!). :P_**

**_I'll be updating again as soon as I have something worthy of your viewing._**

**_Until then._**

**_-DreamsInBlackAndWhite._**


	4. Look Ahead, Not Behind

**_Grrrrr. Back again. This chapter was re-written about a billion times, all getting more and more absurd. This copy seemed like the best one and it managed to fit the plot relatively well.  
I got a PM the other day asking me about Yassen and Yanis's pasts so that's where this chapter spawned from. I've tried to keep Yassen as in character as possible, but I hope you understand that I needed to mould him a bit for this story.  
Alright. I know it's been a long time since I updated any of my stories, but please bear with me. And Jusmine, if you're reading this, your one-shot is almost done._**

**_Without further ado. Oh wait. Disclaimer: I don't own the Alex Rider series but I do own Yanis. Touch him without my permission and you die!!!*cackles*_**

**_This chapter title comes from the song 'Prodigal' by OneRepublic. It fits well with this chapter._**

* * *

Yassen Gregorovich sat with his head resting against the toilet seat, vomit trickling from his chin. He was sporting a ragged three day stubble and large bags under his eyes. His hair was growing longer every day. All was not well in Yassen-Land.

"Boss, you okay?" a rough voice wafted through the thin, chipped bathroom door.

_Yes. I'm just super _Yassen thought sarcastically to himself. He could still hear every word, tightening the jealous fingers clutching his heart with every syllable. _Even my five year old son knows what a shitty parent I am. God._

"Uh, Boss, if this is about the cocaine thing, don't worry. None of us are going to mutter a word to Kurst about it".

_Sweet Jesus. I need a drink and I need it now._

All he could think of was Yanis. The way his lower lip quivered when he was upset or scared. The way tears pooled in his big blue eyes before slowly running down his face. His laugh that just lightened up the room. His smile that could get rid of the tension in Yassen's neck within a second.

His little face, begging Yassen not to leave. His tiny fingers, clutching at Yassen's coat. His sobs that Yassen tried so hard not to hear as he closed the door of the apartment.

_Stop. Right now. The last thing I need is to turn into a big lump of mushy goo. _

Oh God. Yani. He missed him so bad.

It had been the biggest disappointment of his life to turn up outside that bloody Children's Home with no Yanis waiting for him. He'd checked up and down the entire street. No sign of his son. His boy. His only child.

So he'd bugged the building. He'd hidden a web cam in a stuffed monkey. A microphone in each office. Surveillance devices in every bedroom. He'd tried so hard. Listened to so much garbage over the transmitters. For what? Yanis was gone. G-O-N-E.

_"Daddy, come tuck me in!". "You're a great cook daddy". Please don't leave me daddy. S'not bedtime yet daddy! Daddy, I love you._

This was hell, no doubt about it. Yasen could feel all the insecurities and self-loathing thoughts that had tormented him for years sparking up into a large, fire of hate. He was a useless father. A worthless human being. A waste of air. Yanis would probably be better off with Rider and that American, something Starbright.

All the small, insignificant, everyday memories of life were tormenting him. The incredible life-changing moments. Snatches of memories and conversations stinging his very soul with every minute.

_Yassen raised an eyebrow as Sophie Melody strolled through the door of his apartment in Moscow for the first time in a whole year. He watched as she entered the living room, holding a small bundle disdainfully at arms length from her person. He felt pang in his stomach as he regretted, not for the first time, giving her his address._

_"What are you doing, Sophie? You don't still have a key to this apartment, do you?" he'd asked. He hadn't seen the woman in a long time. _

_"I came to give you back what's yours", she said, smiling widely, "May I have a seat?"_

_She didn't wait for his confirmation before doing the aforementioned action. She held the bundle awkwardly, letting it rest on her lap. Yassen caught a glimpse of a tiny hand and snickered inwardly. May God have mercy on the poor soul who'd spawned a child with that woman._

_"I have in my arms a stupid baby. I thought I wanted one a long time ago. A very long time ago. So I tried. I didn't want a family. No husband, just a baby. I tried with so many people and it never worked. I thought that maybe I couldn't have one. But I wanted one so badly. So when I was finally pregnant, I thought everything would be wonderful. I spent seven months with child before it came out early. _

_It was tiny. So small I thought maybe it wouldn't survive. But he did. And I'm tired of it already. It needs to be fed all the time. It babbles all the time and blows spit and mess everywhere. Every single day I find that it annoys me more and more. I don't want the little brat anymore. I don't want to be a mother"._

_"Heart-wrenching. I assure you. Now, what are you trying to tell me? Are you trying to sell your child to me?" Yassen asked dryly, taking a sip of his water before placing the glass carefully down beside his closed laptop._

_"No. It's your child, Yassen. I want you to take it. And pay me one hundred thousand pounds for the trouble and expense I went to bringing it out into the world" Sophie said evenly._

_Yassen flinched at the words and silently reached out. _

_"May I?" he asked quietly. Sophie nodded, smiling slightly, and gently pressed the small baby into Yassen's grip. His finger's closed a few degrees, terrified that he would drop the baby. He held it for a few minutes, testing the weight. It was so light and fragile. He could have killed it with one finger. _

_Slowly, carefully, he'd lifted one finger and pushed back whatever it was the baby was wrapped in. He expected to be overcome with emotion but it just didn't happen. When he looked down at the round face of the flaxen haired infant, he didn't feel like a father. Wisps of downy blond hair crowned his head and long, dark lashes stubbornly concealed whatever eye colour the baby possessed and Yassen waited for something to hit him._

_Nothing came._

**xxxxxxxxx**

_Yassen stumbled across the living room, almost tripping over the sofa. That was a first. He couldn't remember tripping or falling over at all after the age of five. Hmmm. He wondered if it was all the cocaine he'd just snorted or was he losing his skills._

_"Yassen! Mate, open the bloody door or it's coming off! I know you're in there you twat!"._

_Yassen would have rolled his eyes but it would have taken so much effort. He dimly registered that the stupid baby was crying again. God. Sophie was right. The thing was sure as hell annoying. He recognized the voice of James Hawk through the door, even in his less than composed state. James was almost like the friend Yassen had never wanted. The board had assigned him the task of watching out for the Russian, something that was completely unnecessary._

_Well. Yassen understood their concern. He had vanished off the face of the Earth for almost two years after John Rider died and then returned abrubtly with a child in tow and a growing drug addiction. Hell, even Yassen knew he was a major gamble for Scorpia to take._

_"Right. It's coming off"._

_That was the only warning Yassen received before the door of his room was bashed in abruptly. A loud splintering crack made him wince as the wooden frame was damaged. James appeared in the doorway, a German woman name Liesel accompanying him._

_"Can you take care fo the baby? Neighbour says he's been crying for hours" James asked softly._

_Liesel nodded wordlessly and James strolled over to where Yassen was struggling to get back on his feet, his stumble knocking him flat on his face. James waited until Liesel had left the living room in search of the baby before growling softly._

_"You....selfish....miserable....useless....prick!" he enunciated carefully, punctuating each word with a rather furious kick to Yassen's stomach. Yassen was winded and James used that to his advantage, dumping Yassen on the sofa._

_"You're going to stop being such a shitty father. Such a shitty person", James said, flopping down on the sofa beside the dishevelled Russian, "You know I never knew my dad. I know you dad was a shitty parent too. In fact, I don't think any members of Scorpia have a decent father between them. So I sure as hell am not going to let you screw your son over, alright?"_

_"James, he's bleeding. I think he's been sitting in his nappy for days" Liesel called from one of the bedrooms._

_"Jesus, Yassen! When was the last time you changed the little guy's nappy!?" James asked, furious._

_"Generally, I prefer to just give him one big change every two days" Yassen slurred._

_"For the Love of God! If you ever repeat that sentence to Liesel, you won't have to worry about having children again. Until you get yourself sorted, Liesel and I are taking the boy to live with us. When you've come down, give me a call and we can sort out visiting"._

_Liesel appeared in the room, cradling the baby boy to her chest. She didn't look exactly please to see Yassen either. He scratched his nose absently. Cocaine always made his sinuses feel blocked. He wondered why._

_"Look Gregorovich. Look at your son. Because of your stupid, self pitying wallow in your own depressed, stubborn state, he's bleeding. His bum is bleeding because he's been sitting in his own crap for days. What did he do to deserve you as a father, hm?"_

_Yassen looked at the baby for the first time in days. He was covered in dirt, wailing loudly. His nappy stank and was so full it hung from him. Suddenly the numb sting of what he'd done pierced Yassen's carefully constructed walls, drawing the cocaine from his clouded thoughts with malice._

_I made him bleed. My own blood. He bled because of-_

_All of a sudden, Yassen felt a stirring. It wasn't the huge grip of love most fathers experienced. But it was something where there had been nothing for a long time. When the door slammed behind James and Liesel, Yassen slumped to the floor again and nurtured the tiny flicker of feeling that the baby had ignited_

**xxxxxxxx**

_"So, this is Yanis Yassenovich?" the counsellor asked, cooing at the one year old child sitting on the chair opposite her. Yassen scowled fiercely and massaghed his temples. This was the last place he felt was a constructive location to spend the morning. He had been clean for three months and he kept waiting for the longing to vanish. Everyday it seemed to just get stronger._

_Things were harder than ever. He'd finally named the baby, his son. But Yanis made every day harder. Yassen could barely look after himself, let alone a child. He'd been humbled enough to plead with Liesel to teach him about childcare, much to James's amusement._

_"Ba ba ba ba baaaaa" Yanis babbled, looking up at her with wide eyes and a toothy grin. _

_"Has he said his first words yet?" the counsellor asked, smiling like a tramp at a soup kitchen. Ouch. That one was harsh even for Yassen._

_"No. He just babbles as of yet" Yassen replied curtly._

_"He's a wonderful child, Mr. Gregorovich. If you don't mind me asking, have you had any contact with his mother since she gave him into your care?" the counsellor asked, pulling a pen from her pocket and preparing to write notes._

_"No. And I won't, if I can help it" Yassen answered bluntly._

_"Alright. And your drug addiction. How is that coming along? I notice you haven't been to the rehabilitation clinic to complete the course I signed you into" the counsellor said casually. _

_"I know. I don't feel that it's necessary anymore. I'm not going to leave Yanis to spent a month in rehab. The whole thing would be pointless. I think that at this point in time it's more important that I get back to doing my job"._

_"Alright. Mr. Gregorovich, do you now feel that you have been rehabilitated?"_

_"Yes"._

_"Don't you dare bullshit me, Gregorovich. Don't you tell me what you think I want to hear. The truth, please. If anything, you owe it to your son to let me know if you're now capable of caring for him"._

_"No. Every minute I want to take drugs. It would be so easy. I want to just keep tearing and tearing until I've ripped up every bit of me that wants to feel things. I want to ask a dealer for cocaine at least a hundred times a day. I want to kill someone, anyone. I don't want to feel any emotions ever. To answer your question, no, I don't feel the slightest bit rehabilitated"._

_"Then why not do these things? What's different now?"_

_"I'm tired of looking at my son and not feeling an over-powering rush of love. I don't feel like a father. I don't know how to be a father, or anything like it. I looked at him for the first time and felt nothing. Nothing at all. I want him to see that I feel things so powerful for him that I didn't think anything that strong could exist. So, for now, I won't take drugs. I will throw myself into work so that he gets what he needs. I am going to live for him" he said, trembling as he revealed some of the things that had crossed his mind._

_"Good. Good. You've turned a corner Yassen. I am now happy to tell you that for the first time since you joined Scorpia, you are no longer required to attend these therapy sessions"._

_Yassen was numbly aware that he could now have his Saturday morning back to himself. The thought made him feel.......happy._

**xxxxxxxxxx**

_"Daddy! Hop, dance, hop hop, dog! Daddy!" Yanis squealed with a loud laugh. He stood up on the changing table and gripped the front of his father's shirt. __Yassen dressed his son carefully in a red sleeper suit with a small Teddy bear insignia sewed on the front. It was the eve of Yanis's fourth birthday._

_Yassen still fussed over his son more than was healthy, concerned about the fact that he was on the small side for his age and still remarkably innocent. Keeping Yanis safe generally conflicted with what Yanis wanted to do, which often involved extreme sports, large guard dogs, high trees, precarious window ledges, fast cars and the Scorpia firing range._

_Whenever Yanis's plans for amusement and Yassen's plans for his son's safety clashed, there was only one result. Yanis would cry and Yassen would put his foot down, usually to have another Scorpia member undermine his efforts and allow Yanis to do whatever he wanted anyway._

_"Daddy, wanna go see dogs peese!" Yanis yelped._

_Teaching Yanis English after he had been speaking Russian or Italian from birth had not been easy. In fact, Yanis had picked up French much quicker than English. Yassen wondered if it had been the same for him. Had he struggled with English? He couldn't remember. All the afternoons spent with John Rider, reciting and committing to memory irregular verbs and conjunctions had melded together to form the happiest period of his life._

_Yassen rolled his eyes. Yanis was obsessed with the idea of playing with the large Rottweiler dogs that the canine unit used to protect the Scorpia compound. This was one thing Yassen would not budge on, even when other Scorpia members had assured him of the safety involved with such a request._

_"Aren't you tired? It's two in the morning. It's past bed-time for you and the dogs" Yassen pressed firmly on the issue, lifting his son gently. He was always afraid of what could happen if he wasn't careful enough with his child. Ever since that first blood he'd caused him as a baby, he'd moved mountains to keep Yanis from being hurt._

_"Nope, I isn't sleepy. Can we go to see the doggies tomorrow Daddy? Peese?" Yanis pleaded. Somewhere a puppy was searching blindly for its missing eyes._

_"Remember what I told you? We're flying to England tomorrow to live in London so that I can work for Mr. Kurst" Yassen insisted, carrying his son into his room. The walls were plastered with posters of sports star, footballers and their teams. Yanis followed Chelsea with devotion and passion that was rarely witnessed in a three year old. Yassen had taken him to see them play A.C. Milan on his last birthday._

_"Mr. Krust!?" Yanis said excitedly as Yassen placed him down on his bed, "Are we staying for long?"_

_Yassen allowed himself an inner chuckle at the pronunciation._

_"Yes. We're going to live there" Yassen said, tucking his son in, the blankets reaching to just under his chin._

_"Do I get to go school Daddy? 'Cause there's no school here and I really really really wanna go so I can have friends and a teacher so peese can I go Daddy?" Yanis asked, yawning widely._

_Yassen beat back the urge to cry and steal his son away from the world. He didn't want to leave Yanis with someone else, even for a few hours everyday. What he'd once despised, he'd come to depend on. Caring for Yanis was second nature now._

_"Daddy, I'm sleepy. Wanna sleep" Yanis insisted, burrowing under his blanket._

_"I love you Daddy"._

"I love you Daddy".

The past vanished before Yassen's eyes. He was back on the bathroom floor, the stench of his own vomit clogging his nostrils. In that minute he battled against every single bad choice he'd ever made. Every single awful thing he'd done. Every movement, action and decision that had led him to the spot he was in. And his past, his present and future all aligned abruptly before his very eyes.

"I will take Yanis back".

* * *

**_Done. P.S. If you're reading my other stories, they should all, each and every one of them, be updated before Christmas Eve. And I owe you all a few new one-shots for your patience.  
Thank you so much for reading this far and sticking with the story! You're all wonderful. Now, I'm off to work on a few festive updates. _**


	5. Dysfuntion Between You And Me

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Alex Rider series. The chapter title comes from the song 'Nothing Lasts Forever' by Maroon 5. Don't own diddly squat, people. Anyway, Merry Christmas everyone. Hope you have a good one.**

* * *

_dear daddy how are you im fine i miss you lots and lots and i wish you was here to hug me goodnight but i finded a new mummy her name is jack and shes really really really pretty she has hair like carrots and my new brother is called alex hes really really really smart and he gives me a hug every night but hes like you and he doesnt really like hugs or goombears but he plays football with me and i like that because hes really really really good and he teaches me lots and lots_

Jack pulled John's paper from under his hands gently while he took a sip of orange squash that rested beside his short, chubby crayons. Jack had always been an advocate of arts and crafts and on rainy days with John trapped inside, picture time was a God send.

A ball wedged in her throat and she smiled down at John's scribbles, tears in the corners of her eyes. It was just so touching for this little boy to be writing to his absentee father with such love and devotion. John grinned crookedly up at Jack and she felt her heart swell with love for this perfect little boy.

"Mummy Jack, why did you put a big tree in the corner and put tinsel and stuff on it? Is it your birthday or something? I'm a whole five years old so I'm a big boy now and I'll be six in eleven months and twenty two days and I love being a big boy 'cause soon I'll be able to drive a car like my daddy 'cause his is black and it's called a Lambojinny and it goes really really really fast but Daddy always tells me not to touch it but one day I did and it started and moved and Daddy went all pale and grabbed me and hugged me and telled me to never, never, never ever touch the Lambojinny again. Daddy never lets me do anything cool like drive or go see the dogs or go to the gun shooting place with anyone, even Mr. Krust. I guess he's just a party pooper, Mummy Jack" John sighed.

Jack smiled down at the five year old and handed him back his paper. She had to admit, she was very curious about his father. A drug taking, Lamborghini owner. And what was John talking about, a 'gun shooting place'? Probably paintballing or something of the sort. At least his dad sounded slightly responsible in a weird way.

"Mummy Jack, you know how you're my new mummy now?" John asked, lifting a red crayon and scribbling idly on the paper, drawing what resembled the distant cousin of a dog.

"Yes, sweetheart" Jack said, reaching out and petting John's soft hair lovingly. She just loved everything about John. He was sooo cute. And even though Dave had warned her about tantrums, biting and general misbehaviour, John had been as good as gold since she'd taken him home.

"Well, are we family now?" John asked quietly. Jack nodded, dropping a kiss on the back of his head.

"Then you're opposed to call me Yanis 'cause that's my name but Dave said anyone who wasn't my family had to called me John. But if you're really my family, then you call me Yanis. And I wanna go see Daddy peese, 'cause I really miss him. It's really really really really nice here but my Daddy misses me and I miss him and Mr. Finanigan and Mr. Krust too. I like you lots and lots and lots Mummy, even though I only knowed you for two weeks and Alex knowed you much longer. I like Alex lots and lots and lots too 'cause he's really smart and funny and he-"

"John, honey, are you feeling okay?" Jack asked worriedly, reaching out a placing her hand on his smooth forehead. He didn't seem to be running a temperature but then again, he wasn't making any sense. Usually, when he babbled, Jack could work back through what he said and find some thread of reason in his speech.

"I'm not John, Mummy Jack. 'Member? I'm Yanis, like I telled you" John replied, dropping his crayon and looking up at Jack with large, confused eyes.

"John, why are you saying that!? You're upsetting me!" Jack said loudly, her face scrunching up to try and stem the flow of tears in her eyes. This was wrong. This whole thing felt wrong. Her heart felt like it was breaking to pieces in her chest. What was it about John pretending to be someone else that hurt her so bad? Oh. That was it. It made her think of how she was losing Alex to espionage already.

"I'm sorry Mummy" John said, reaching out and petting Jack's red hair as she slumped to her knees. A loud rap on the door was enough to break Jack out of her wallow. She glanced up and wiped her eyes on the sleeves of her jumper. With a forced smile she kissed John on the forehead again and got to her feet, ready to open the door.

Jack padded out of the kitchen, sniffing once and wiping her eyes again. She opened the door slowly and frowned. Her eyes widened in recognition before she slammed the door closed and double locked, sliding the security bolt into place.

"ALEX! JOHN! OUT THE BACK DOOR, NOW!" she yelled.

_Hmmm. What a warm welcome._

* * *

**London. 2 Days Earlier. **

James Hawk paced anxiously back and forward across his office, stopping to glance out the window every four steps. Absently, he wondered if he actually looked like a solicitor anxiously pacing his office. Maybe he should arch his back more?

"James" Yassen called, strolling across and shaking his friend's hand. James smiled tolerantly at his secretary, knowing full well she'd failed in her attempt to make Yassen wait outside until James was ready. But some things could be forgiven, James reasoned, when one was in a pickle as big as Yassen Gregorovich's.

The Russian looked like shit, it had to be said. His eyes were bloodshot, exhausted. He had dark shadows under his eyes and his clothes were wrinkled all over. But James wasn't going to judge. If he lost his child, his only purpose to live, he'd be in a similar state. In fact, Yassen was holding up much better than anyone could have expected.

"Yassen, how goes it? Any news on the little guy?" James asked, leading the Russian over to his desk. James sat on it and Yassen did the same, the pair sitting shoulder to shoulder morosely.

"Yes. He's happy enough, staying with Rider and Starbright. He isn't in school but he's in the process of being enrolled in the local primary. He scraped his knee in the park yesterday but Starbright hugged him and kissed him and bandaged it and told him off for jumping from the swing. He calls her 'mummy'" Yassen trailed off absently, his voice etched with pain.

James swallowed loudly. Ouch. Yassen really was in bits.

"Well, the good news is that while Alex Rider is in school during the day, it's just Starbright and Yani in the house. So if you catch them then, you'll be able to take Yani from her with no trouble whatsoever. The bad news is that Sophie wants to take him back from you" James said, bracing himself.

"What?" Yassen asked hoarsely, his voice focusing rapidly back to its usual sound. James winced silently before proceeding.

"Word is that she's mobilising a lot of units with her new crowd. You know, 'Seven' or whatever it's called. Anyway, the point is, they're moving units around, toeing in on gang turf. The gangs are getting restless. Then, yesterday, she put people in on your apartment block. She'd going to try and take him back. But, the thing is, she doesn't know he's living with Starbright and Rider. So, if you want Yani, you're going to have to move quickly and quietly to get him out of the country and back to Russia" James said softly.

"What you're telling me is that _that _woman is coming to try and take back the child she foisted on me. This is just another thing I don't need right now. That she-beast creature of a harpy who thinks she can just leave our child with me and then waltz back in after all these years. Well, is that's what she thinks will happen then-"

"Yassen, I'm going to give you one piece of invaluable advice. Go find Sophie. Bring some baby pictures of Yani. Sit down and talk to her like a normal human being. Appeal to the motherly side of her nature. You and her used to be practically inseparable. You're a match made in the fiery pits of hell" James said, scratching the back of his head.

Yassen sprung back to his feet and nodded once before turning and leaving the room, closing the door gently. James frowned, puzzled by the Russian's strange behaviour. He supposed Yassen's life couldn't actually get worse after losing his son.

* * *

Sophie Melody shivered slightly at the touch of the cold air that managed to shimmy through the window and touch her bare skin. The window slid closed and Sophie listened for the bump of a pair of feet touching the ground. Nothing came.

"Hello Yassen".

"You knew I'd come?"

"Yes".

"Good".

The mattress sagged slightly as Yassen's weight settled itself beside her. Sophie inhaled subtly and grinned. She'd always loved everything about Yassen. It had hurt her when it didn't work out. She wondered absently if he ever thought about the years when they were an unofficial couple. Probably not. And anyway, they'd both had places to go and things to do.

"So, what are you doing here? Not going to kill me, are you?"

"No. It's a good guess, though. I came to show you something".

"Okay. What?"

Yassen slipped a stack of photos out of his pocket and slipped them into Sophie's loose grip.

Hmmm. Yanis as a baby. Yassen and Yanis on a beach somewhere. Yassen had his arm around his son protectively and Yanis was smiling toothily at the camera. Yanis blowing out birthday candles with half of Scorpia in the background. A sepia image of Yanis lying on a bed, eyes closed with a wide smile. Yanis playing football. Yanis on monkey bars. Yanis on a swing. Yanis dressed as a vampire. Yanis on Yassen's shoulders. Yanis on top of the Eiffel Tower. Yassen and Yanis in an airport. Wow. Who would have thought an assassin would find the time to take so many pictures?

"He looks like you. A lot like you. Only softer".

"I know".

"You love him?"

"I know".

"Well, I love him too. He's all I want. Unless-"

"What do you really want, Sophie? You don't actually want him, you don't know him. You hated looking after him".

"But now it's different. I've found a good man who loves me. His name is Leonardo".

"That's good. I'll send him my condolences".

"Very funny. Why are you like that? You're so bitter. I don't understand. I loved you, you know. I really did. I think you loved me too if we're being honest".

"I didn't. I loved certain things about you. It was only natural that we fell apart after a while. I needed someone who could be open and honest about their feelings. You needed someone to proclaim their adoration for you every minute of the day".

"Ouch. That hurts. Leonardo will make such a good father, Yassen. He's everything I've ever wanted and more. But I still can't stop thinking about you and I. You remember the last days of us?"

"I do. I seem to recall you calling me an immature, pompous, big-headed, egotistical, immoral swine and then packing".

"I wanted you to come after me".

"Stop. That isn't true. You would have killed me if I followed you and I would never do anything so weak. We both know that. Why do you want Yanis? And could you cut the bullpoopy, please".

"Bullpoopy?"

"It's a Yanis friendly word that I occasionally use so as not to swear in front of him. So, if you don't mind telling me, what evil scheme have you cooked up now?"

"Yassen, look at me. Look at you. We're getting older and soon, soon I won't be able to have children. Leonardo is infertile. We both want a child but we can't adopt. Plus, I wouldn't mind monthly Child Maintenance payments".

"Thank you".

"For what?"

"Being honest with me. You can keep those photos, I have the originals tucked away in my safe".

"Why would I keep photos of you and our son?"

"So that if you ever get your hands on him, you'll know what he looks like when he smiles. Because I can guarantee you that he would be miserable with you and Leonardo".

"You should have been a comedian, really you should have. Tell me about him, Yassen. I want to know about him before you leave".

"He's small for five. His eyes sometimes look like melted blue zircon. He rambles about random things and has a stuffed bunny called Jimjam. Jimjam eat carrots and ham, according to Yani. He has a morbid fascination with the security dogs on the Scorpia compound. He once put one of my neighbour's fish in a kettle and dropped a cat from a nine storey building to see would it land on it's feet. He cried when it didn't and I took him to Mc Donald's. He knows the poem about the Jabberwock off by heart. He once mooned Zeljan Kurst. He calls him Mr. Krust. He's desperate to go to school. His favourite colour is red and I love him more than I've ever loved anything before".

"Thank you. You know, I think I hate you now. Because of the way you look at me. I made one hundred thousand pounds through giving birth and you had to take care of a baby but you still look like you got the good end of the bargain".

"I think I hate you too. Because you left him and now you want to take him back from me after you hurt him by abandoning him in the first place".

"Okay. I can live with that. But I want you to know one thing. I'm not backing down. I'm not going to stop until Yanis is back with me, where he belongs. And you can try and stop me, if you want. But it will not end well for you, Yassen. Why can't you just let him go?"

Sophie waited a minute and then turned. The window was open and Yassen was gone. She smiled slightly. He would have no idea what hit him when she moved to take back her child. Her boy. With on sigh, she flicked through the pictures rapidly. There. That was the most recent. It was a picture of Yanis sitting with his arms wrapped around his knees on a sofa.

His blond hair was gelled into cute little spikes and his eyes were looking straight out, his whole face lit up with a smile. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a Chelsea football shirt. Sophie smiled and tucked the photo into her pocket. The first seeds of what she hoped was love were blooming in her chest, where her heart should be.

Soon things would be perfect.

* * *

**We are now finito.**


	6. Further In And On We Go

**_I am so sorry. Anybody who reads this story is incredible and I've neglected you badly. But fear not. Order has now come to my stories. An update day for everything. This story's update day is now Sunday. Every Sunday I will update unless I'm out of the country or ill. If that's the case, I'll warn you whenever I can._**

**_Peace._**

**_Title this time is coming from 'Rangers' by A Very Fine Frenzy._**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Alex Rider series. But Yanis, you are mine. MWAH!**

_

* * *

Hmmm. What a warm welcome._

"Break it down! Red team, round the back. Blue team, get this door open! I want MOVEMENT!" The orders were barked out at the top of Leonardo's voice and Sophie reached across to squeeze his forearm. She could practically taste her victory over Yassen. Yanis was hers now.

It had been difficult, she'd admit it, more difficult than she'd anticipated. Tracking down Yanis. It had taken her thirty six hours to find Yanis's current location and plenty of wheedling along the way. Leonardo snarled quietly while one of his men produced a battering ram.

"Darling, what would I do without you?" she asked stroking his chin gently. He half turned his head to her and smiled. Sophie managed to pull herself up enough to close down the inches between her husband and herself, planting a light kiss on his cheekbone. Leonardo snaked a hand around her waist and smiled down at her. Sophie beamed back at him. Things had been tense for the last few weeks.

Leonardo hadn't been keen on the idea of Yanis, to say the least. He was adamant that they could have one of their own. Of course, Sophie had put her foot down and he'd rolled over in the end, just like everyone else. She would accept no kind of compromise.

Leonardo didn't even want a child, to be perfectly honest. He loathed the idea of looking after someone other than himself. Dividing Sophie's attention. Pretending to care what happen to the nasty little snot. Ugh. Just thinking about it made him want to put a bullet in the boy. But Sophie would get tired of it very quickly. She was like that. Then they could pack it off to a boarding school somewhere and just forget about it.

In Leonardo's opinion, the whole thing was just a way to prove her superiority. Get one over on Yassen Gregorovich. Maybe make a quick buck on the side. He kept his mouth shut though, when it came to his opinions. Sophie would flip and he definitely didn't want that.

The door splintered suddenly, breaking Leonardo out of his reverie, and he delivered the final push that sent it flying inwards off its hinges. Sophie stepped through the door first and Leonardo followed, frowning. He pulled his gun from the waistband of his trousers and stuck close to her shadow, alert to any changes in surroundings.

They reached the kitchen, the odd procession of goons following tightly behind them. The back door was wide open and a cold wind whipped in from outside. The sun was setting in the background, the blotchy orange blob casting a contrast with the navy blue sky.

"They've gone out the-"

"Back door. I can see that. Don't worry. We have the garden covered, don't we?" Sophie said expectantly, turning to face her husband placidly. Leonardo shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. _If she'd waited 'til tomorrow like I suggested then we'd have had the manpower to cover the back garden_.

"Don't we?" Sophie asked, a small crease materialising between her eyes. When no-one replied her face contorted with anger and she lashed out with her delicate fists, bashing Leonardo on the chest twice with fury. He ignored the blows and side-stepped her easily, closing the door tightly.

"They could be ANYWHERE! HOW am I going to FIND them NOW!? YASSEN is going to GET to THEM BEFORE ME!" Sophie spat out. She actually stamped her foot. Hmm. Leonardo had always thought that only girls in poorly written drama stories did that. It was almost enough to make him smile.

"AFTER THEM!" Sophie shrieked.

Leonardo winced at the high pitched yell. It was like a re-run of 'Catch That Pigeon'. A bad re-run. There was only one thing he was sure would happen now. Sophie would either get her hands on the brat or die trying.

* * *

**Two hours later.**

"Alex, what are we going to do? Do you have your phone? Call the police. We need to-"

"Ring my daddy".

"John, please. Not now, alright? Alex, just get your mobile and-"

"Ring my daddy".

"JOHN! Now is not the time for joking, alright? I'd use mine but I left it upstairs. I've already spent all the money I had on the hotel room. What about ringing that Jones woman? This is her fault anyway. If they hadn't got you working for those-"

"I don't like this 'otel room, mummy. Daddy stays in 'otels sometimes and one time I falled down the big tin thing for the laundry and my daddy got really mad at the manager. Ring daddy, mummy. He has a super special number he gived me and it's real short. He telled me to call it if there's ever something really, really, really bad so we should call it now 'cause that's what he telled me to do. I calleded him in Dave's office afore too, mummy".

"John, darling, please just-"

"John, what's your father's number? Jack, it's the only thing we can do. I don't have a number for Mrs. Jones and if we call the police she'll come poking her nose in. We don't even know what this was about. It could be nothing".

"It was definitely something".

"Y-a-n-i-s"

"Jack, if we're being chased, we're going to need someone to take John anyway. If we go to anyone but his father, Dave will be down on us in a second, nosing around. You might lose custody of both of us. I need to-"

"Y-a-n-i-s"

"You don't NEED to do anything! You're a fourteen year old boy! Will you leave this to me, please!? Just this one time! I am the adult here. You're still too young to be thinking about things like this Alex. Way too young".

"Y-a-n-i-s"

"Jack, you can call the police if you want. But I'm ringing John's dad. What's the number then, John?"

"Y-a-n-i-s"

"..."

"That's not a number, sugar"

"Just push those buttons and daddy will answer. It's his number he gived me"

"Um...okay. 9-2-6-4-7. It's. It's ringing"

* * *

Yassen felt his private phone vibrating noisily in his pocket and sighed, pulling off his headphones and minimizing the hacker program he had open on his laptop. He'd spent two hours unsuccessfully trying to find Alex Rider's address. Unless the boy turned up on Yassen's doorstep, the chances of finding him on the Internet were minuscule. He didn't have a MySpace, Bebo or Facebook. Yassen was resigning himself to just following the boy home from school when his phone rang.

Yassen was currently sitting in the middle of a London Starbucks with a soulless coffee and a muffin that he'd rather marry than eat.

It was a number Yassen didn't recognize but he flipped open the phone, answering regardless.

"Hello" he said quietely. He was careful to keep his voice low and harder to identify. This could be anyone in the world.

"Hello? Uh, who is this?" a voice crackled down the line. Yassen frowned. Nobody who called him was ever in doubt about his identity. In fact, nobody got his number unless he gave it to them. Protocol was to hang up but Yassen hung on, listening intently now for any background noise.

"Who is this?" Yassen replied. He waited a minute for static on the line to pass and frowned.

"This is Alex. Alex Rider. My, uh, guardian, Jack Starbright, is your son's foster mother. John just gave me this number. We've had, em, a bit of a problem. Can I get your name, please?"

Holy shit. Yassen's mood swung dangerously from brooding to delirious. He must have fallen asleep. In the middle of the coffee shop. What were the odds? What were the odds that Yani would end up with Alex Rider? And give him Yassen's private number? Any minute now he would wake up and it would be time to face another day.

"I'm sorry, could you put John on the phone please?" Yassen asked smoothly. He listened to the muffled teen's voice and then held the phone away from his ear with a wry face, waiting ten seconds before the ear splitting shriek of 'DADDY!' came through.

"Daddy, you have to come get us 'cause really nasty peoples breakeded into the house. I fink they was lookin' for me bu' Mummy says they were looking for Alex and that's silly, isn't it daddy? 'Cause why would they be looking for Alex? We're gonna need you to pick us up daddy. And please, please, please bring Jim-Jam bunny 'cause I missed him loads and loads and loads. We is staying in the Goldem Acorm daddy, but it's icky 'cause it smells like pee pee. Room number four and-"

There was a rustling sound on the other end of the line. Yassen closed over his laptop and tucked it into its bag swiftly, shrugging on his coat.

"Hello? Hi, this is Jack Starbright. I'm your son's foster mother. We're kind of in a situation here and I didn't know who else to call. I know this is terribly rude seeing as we've never spoken but I think you're going to have to come over here and discuss maybe taking John for a few-"

"Yes, of course. I'll be right over. Give me two minutes" Yassen choked out, for the first time in weeks genuinely excited about something. He slammed his phone shut and darted out of Starbucks, nearly upending an elderly couple on their way in.

Things were finally looking up.

* * *

**_OOOOOOOhhhhhh. Things are going to collide, huh? Please review. Thanks for reading. Remember, update on Sunday._**


	7. Go And Get In Your Happy Place

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Alex Rider series. Chapter title comes from 'Happy Place' by Susanna Hoffs.**

* * *

"Alex, I'm not so sure about this..." Jack Starbright repeated for the umpteenth time, pacing the length of their cramped little hotel room, anxiously wringing her hands. Alex shrugged, chewing on his bottom lip hesitantly. He didn't really want to alarm Jack but the entire situation felt wrong to him as well. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but there was definitely something nagging at the back of his brain. Whenever he tried to unravel events, the feeling just slipped through his fingers.

There were so many conflicting angles. So many overlapping edges. And none of them seemed to slot together. The break-in team, John's abandonment, the strange five digit phone number. John's father's clear surprise at receiving a call. None of it made sense. What kind of abusive, negligent parent was exuberant to take a call from their child's foster family? What exactly had the break-in team wanted with them? It was driving Alex crazy, trying to consider it all at the same time.

John, however, didn't seem to be suffering any doubts about their current situation. In fact, he seemed enthused to find himself whisked from their stable home without any notice, as if he'd been expecting it. He seemed to be pleased, as if things had returned to the status quo for him. Maybe he was used to living out of hotels? Hadn't he made some comment about staying in a hotel with his father? It seemed probable, especially if the father was involved in drugs.

Maybe a lieutenant in a gang? As far as Jack knew, he didn't have a criminal record. But that didn't mean he was white as snow. Maybe he was just above street level, not touching the drugs? Alex shook his head, irritated at jumping to conclusions. For all he knew, John's father was a nice, courteous man who had perhaps fallen on hard times. Maybe he was depressed.... Damnit. Another unfounded theory to drive him insane.

"Did you hear me, Alex? I said, I'm not so sure about this. Alex. Alex. Alex, answer me, please!" Jack cried, tears pricking her eyes. Alex felt a little guilty as he looked up, broken from his deep, thoughtful state.

"What? Oh. Jack, I can't answer you. That's not a question. Listen, I think we just need to be careful about handing John over, that's all. Anyway, he seems delighted about seeing his father again. I honestly believe that-"

Alex never did get the chance to tell Jack what he honestly believed because it was at that moment that the door of their hotel room splintered inwardly with a loud crack. Jack shrieked and grabbed John, pulling him behind her. Alex moved forward swiftly, placing himself between his family and the intruder who bundled through the broken door with a growl, blocking his partner with his hulking frame.

The man was almost bearlike in constitution and possibly in manner. He reared back and lunged forward, forcing Alex to press Jack and John into the tiny bathroom. Jack scrabbled around the room, sobbing, and tried to force the minuscule window over the toilet. Alex pushed forward, shifting his weight to allow him to better defend the more vulnerable members of his family.

The bear man smashed over one of the beds in a tangle of sheets and blankets, for a moment taking on the appearance of a-

"GHOST!" John shrieked aptly. Alex's lips twitched slightly as he feinted back from the man's slow, lumbering punch. He retreated another step and reached behind him, gripping the first thing his fingers came into contact with. He tried to pull the object but it resisted and he had to tug hard to free it with a rather loud clang. He wielded his weapon, a metal towel rack, in front of him with a few small test swings.

Alex feinted left before darting right and smashing the towel rack into his assailant's stomach with a dull, sinking thud. The man grunted, hefting a large hammy fist into the side of Alex's head and knocking him off balance. Alex swung heavily again, hitting the man in the elbow, sending his entire arm into a spasm. Jack sobbed loudly in the toilet, now acutely aware that her life and the life of her recently fostered son rested in the hands of the fifteen year old standing between her and two hundred and seven pounds of sheer muscle.

"Just give me the kid and I can get out of here, no fuss at all. I just want the kid." The man exhaled with a deep, scratchy growl of a voice.

"Why do you want him?" Alex asked, cocking an eyebrow. The man grinned, a twitch of his mouth. For the first time it struck Alex that the bear man was exceedingly ugly. He wasn't bothering with a balaclava, which didn't really bode well in Alex's mind. It meant that he didn't intend to leave anyone alive to report his description to any kind of authority. Which was a little disappointing because Alex felt fully certain that he would remember the curiously hideous face in front of him for years to come.

His eyes were small and fiercely intense with thick, heavy eyebrows. His nose was squashed, a brutalized boxer's, his lips pinched and white and artificial looking. Alex got the impression that a lot of people had attempted to murder this man and that some had succeeded enough to warrant what seemed to be massive reconstructive surgery. A cheekbone, at least half of his nose and mouth... severe trauma, to sum it up.

"He's not even yours. I'm not gonna hurt a hair on his stupid little head. I just need you to-"

Bear man leaped forward in a surprisingly graceful way, smashing Alex into the wall with a loud crack. The teen's head felt fuzzy from the blow, his brain screaming at him to move, move, move. He was too dizzy though, succeeding only in lumbering left of the bear man's next punch, a devastating right hook that looked like a real concussion maker. And then he-

"DAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDDDYYYYYYYYYY!" John squawked loudly. Alex rolled his gaze slowly to the door in time to see a black coated man dispatch of bear man's partner with a well aimed heel of the palm to the neck. The crunch was sickening as the man's corpse slumped to the floor, sending Jack into another re-invigorated fit of hysterics.

Bear man didn't even have time to turn around before the man in the black coat bashed him savagely over the head with a laptop bag, knocking him off balance. Then something happened, too fast for Alex's gunged up brain to comprehend. Whatever it was, it drew a loud grunt from the bear man and then...

And then...

And then Alex was falling, falling, falling....

* * *

"-not saying that you're not capable, just that I think it would better if Yanis came with me so that we can-"

"-absolutely not. I can't just let you take him and-"

Alex's head was groggy and his sinuses felt bunged up entirely, tightly packed with balls of snot ripe for sneezing out in a most disgusting manner. He was lying diagonally across a too small bed, his head and feet dangling off at each end precariously. He was in moderate pain but he didn't feel all that tired once he came to properly. Just... wrong.

Something tugged on his fingers and he blinked twice, rubbing his forehead with the back of his left hand before propping himself up on his elbows. He wasn't in the hotel room, which was good. He was, however, in what appeared to be a little boy's bedroom. There were Chelsea posters blanketing the walls and colourful toy chests. Action figures spilled onto the floor and at least two dozen stuffed animals.

It was like a bomb had gone off in the middle of a toy shop. Meccano, a wooden train set that stretched from one corner to the next, countless cars and jeeps and even a gigantic wooden parrot strung from the ceiling. Books and balls and bats everywhere. Alex had never so many toys in such a mess before in his life.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaalex." A quiet voice intruded on the teenager's half conciousness. "Wake up."

Alex rubbed his eyes blearily and glanced around, startled. John was standing at the foot of the bed, watching the blond teenager expectantly.

"John, where are we?" Alex asked slowly, blinking a few more times. The bedroom was bright enough for him to see everything but still dimmer than his own bedroom at home.

"Daddy's 'partment. Mummy and Daddy is arguing, Alex. I trieded to tell them not to but I don't think they heard me 'cause they're both really, really, really mad. Maybe you should go out and talk to them 'cause I goed out and then Daddy told me to go to my room 'cause the growed ups were gonna talk and Mummy Jack said to go to and they've been using their outdoor voices ever since 'cause... 'cause... I'm not sure why. Let's get under the bed." John babbled, tugging Alex's fingers again.

"What?" Alex inquired absently, frowning just slightly.

"When Daddy argues with someone I get under my bed 'cause it's nice and snug under there and sometimes I wake up there the next morning and everthing's back to normal. But if I do fall as'eep under there, will you and Mummy Jack vanish 'cause I don't want that to happen. Once when we were on a plane my teddy vanished from right by my seat and I had a... a... tantmum. That's what Daddy calls 'em. But then the nice air waitress finded my teddy in the bathroom so it was alright." John narrated, sliding under his bed as he spoke.

"See?" He called, demonstrating to coziness of the small space by flapping his arms. "Sometimes, when Daddy comes looking for me he forgets to check under my bed and gets all worked up. Some people just don't 'member to check under the bed, these days." He finished sagely.

"Alright." Alex swung his legs over the side of the bed absently. "Why don't you wait in here while I go and talk to your father and Jack?"

John shook his head slowly from side to side, sliding out from under the bed on his belly with haste.

"I'm coming too. P'eeeeeese?" John lisped artfully, climbing into Alex's lap. The conniving little.... Damn. He really was adorable.

"Fine." Alex sighed, lifting the small boy up into his arms. John wasn't all that heavy and Alex could easily maneuver with the extra weight. He stood up and made his way out of the bedroom and across the hall, following Jack's loud, argumentative tone to what appeared to be the living room.

The teenager stood in the doorway, heart in mouth, entirely frozen.

He could hear the blood rushing through his ears as he somehow set John down on the floor. He didn't see the boy move though, because his eyes were entirely trained on the blond man who sat tense and upright at the end of the sofa. He saw every tiny movement. The pinch of the bridge of his nose. The thoughtful scratching of the slight shadow of stubble. The happiness and realization as John pounced. The little smile that seemed so very out of place. So hard to reconcile with the man before him.

This man. Who should have been dead. Who Alex had seen die.

"Daddy, I'm so glad you camed for me! This is Mummy Jack! Isn't she pretty?"

It would have been adorable, this reunion.

If _Daddy _hadn't been a highly trained, highly paid and highly lethal assassin.

* * *

**_Have you ever hidden under your bed?_**

**_-DIBAW_**


	8. You Never Find The One You Want

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Alex Rider series. Song title from Aqualung- Something To Believe In.**

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Jack Starbright perched on the comfortable, plush hotel room armchair, lips pursed. It was nine o' clock, Alex was taking a hard earned shower and she had absolutely nothing to do. Her neck was kinked and tense, carrying the weight of her day and she'd already raided the mini bar, pouring herself a generous glass of red wine which she slowly sipped. She didn't have much tolerance for alcohol and since the very first day she'd started caring for Alex, she'd never once drunken anything while solely responsible for his welfare.

She'd had the kind of day that merited breaking all of the rules.

Mr. Beckett had insisted on booking them into a hotel across the road from his apartment, simply for privacy's sake. She had agreed, partly because she didn't want to be ungracious but mostly because he scared her. Her. Jack Starbright. A fully grown woman who'd always made it on her own steam had accepted a paid for hotel room because the man who'd offered it intimidated her.

Pshhhh.

If only Ian could see her now. Alex's stubborn refusal to engage with her had worn down her patience and she'd almost yelled at him when he'd extended his ignoral to Mr. Beckett. Alex had simply refused to speak to him, insisting repeatedly that they had to 'get away' from the man. He'd mortified her with his behaviour but it had also set her wondering about John's mysterious father. What had he done to rub Alex up the wrong way like that? As far as she could tell, they'd had no interaction with each other whatsoever.

A sudden knock at the room door had her furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. _Room service? Turn down team?_ She pondered as she made her way to the door.

The room was ostentatiously extravagent and immodestly grand, almost decadent. It made her blush just to think about how much it must have cost. She didn't quite know how she intended to pay Mr. Beckett back but she knew she had to. It made her stomach clench to even think about accepting charity from a man she knew nothing about. For all she knew, he'd paid for it with drug money.

She looked through the peep hole and did a double take, bumping her head against the door in the process. Just another lovely coincidence for the day.

She couldn't quite believe what her eyes were attempting to relay to her brain. It looked like Mr. Beckett was outside her hotel room door, John clutching his left hand happily with a raggedy rabbit teddy clenched under his free arm. Mr. Beckett looked funny, distorted by the concave of the glass. She could hear John babbling through the door and Mr. Beckett's quiet assertions to the one sided conversation. He sounded tense and strained and worried.

She hesitantly opened the door and stood staring at him, unsure of what to say.

"Mr. Beckett?" She finally said. Not her most articulate moment, but it would do.

"Hello. Yani wanted you to... It doesn't matter. I can take him back home if we are intruding." He said smoothly, nearly all trace of fatigue or tension hidden, ignoring the bouncing child at his side. John hopped from foot to foot without a semblance of balance, giggling madly.

"No. No. Come on in. Alex is just in the shower." She replied, blushing furiously for no particular reason other than the sheer awkwardness of the situation.

"Mummy Jack, Daddy called James to come over to our house and he did and they talked, talked, talked Mummy Jack, for hours and hours and I was soooooo bored that I maked a tail out of labels and I pinneded it to James' bum and James said it was really, really funny and he gave me five pounds, Mummy Jack, and telled me to spend it all on sweeties and to hell with the con...con......con-say-o-quinc-ez." John cackled, hugging Jack's shins awkwardly while still holding his father's hand.

"The, uh, living room's just through here." Jack stepped back, realizing that the reason they hadn't entered was because she was blocking the door.

John barreled past Jack, tugging his unresisting father behind him, trailing giggles in his wake. Jack shut the door firmly, pinching the bridge of her nose before following into the living room. She saw Mr. Beckett eye the glass of red wine with what looked like disapproval and she bristled, flushing scarlet.

"Mummy Jack, Mummy Jack! This is Jim Jam! My bunny! I bringed him over 'cause he telled me that he wanted to see you! Daddy wanted to see you to 'cause all the time him and James was talking, it was 'bout you, Mummy Jack. I know 'cause I presseded my ear to the keyhole and Daddy said....." The little boy mused for a minute. "Oh! He said you was com...comp...compoten. And James asked Daddy if he had a girlfriend and Daddy said no, he said he was ready to-"

Mister Beckett muttered something in what sounded like rapid Russian, as good as jibberish to Jack. He did it entirely on purpose and completely unrepentantly but whatever he said sent John scampering from the room with a toothy grin, racing down the hall, chuckling.

"I hope we haven't interrupted your evening." Mr. Beckett spoke quietly, seating himself in one of the plush red armchairs in the corner. He eyed the door furtively and Jack wondered if this was actually as awkward for him as it was for her.

"No. It's fine. What is it exactly that we have to talk about?" She queried, frowning as she plopped back onto the sofa. She left the red wine on the coffee table, more than a little embarrassed to have been caught during a moment of weakness. Mr. Beckett stared at his fingernails, determinedly avoiding her eyes.

"My son was taken from my care. Your home was broken into. You called me. These occurrences are not coincidental. I wasn't able to have this discussion with you earlier because I didn't know how much to tell you. Now I do. Did you think it was something you did to bring those... people, to your door? It was my fault and I apologize. It would have been better for both you and I if you had never met my son."

"However, you did. Because of what has happened, things have changed. The entire field of play has been turned on its head. And as such, I have done what I've been doing for almost thirty years. I have adapted. As Yanis told you, today I was in contact with a close friend of mine with whom I spoke at length. With his help, I have been able to salvage two options." Mr. Beckett glanced up at her as if he'd just noticed her sitting there, blinking twice slowly.

For the first time she realized just how long his eyelashes were.

"And these two options?" She heard herself ask with a slight squeak in her voice, just enough to embarrass her.

"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy! I'm hungry! And there's no juice in the little mini fridge box thing, just fizzy stuff. So can I take a Coke, Daddy if I promise to brush my teeth when we go home?" John barreled into the room, launching himself into his father's lap. Mr. Beckett's reactions were spot on; he caught the small boy's weight before he got an untimely headbutt.

Again, he spoke to his son in quickly uttered Russian, this time more softly and open than before. John nodded, replying in much more childish but equally fluent Russian with a look of sincerity on his face. He wrapped his tiny arms around his father's neck and squeezed tightly, grinning.

The grin faltered when Mr. Beckett stiffened, glancing over at Jack hastily. John clambered to his own feet, Jim Jam clutched in one small hand, his childish face frozen in a frown of confusion mingled with hurt. Jack felt herself bristle at the abject rejection, the crushing blow to the child's confidence. John's lower lip trembled slightly before the little boy repressed the display of emotion in a most adult manner.

Jack was furious. It was so blatantly obvious that John had refused to show his true feelings in front of his father, at least on this occasion. Mr. Beckett smiled briefly, a slight curl at the corner of his mouth and then said something else in Russian, in a voice that Jack thought was an effort at comforting. John padded out of the living room, closing the door behind him, his spirits visibly dampened.

"Ms. Starbright-"

"How dare you. How. Dare. You. The child was trying to show affection for you and you just rebuffed him, you arrogant, cold, aloof bastard!" Jack ranted, interrupting him mid-sentence. Mr. Beckett didn't frown or scowl or sneer. His face remained impassive, his eyes unreadable. His body didn't change at all but Jack could practically feel anger radiating from him.

"Ms. Starbright, I did not come here for you to judge my parenting skills. I'm here to give you the information I think you want. I think you doubt my ability to protect my son. I came here to tell you the two choices I am faced with. The first is to take Yani and run. Leave this country immediately, go into hiding somewhere far from here. That would be difficult. The person who is hunting my son has many resources; I'm sure that she is having the airports watched for a man and a boy travelling together." Mr. Beckett continued.

"What? Those people, they came for John? But... That's insane. No. You're lying. I don't know what game you're trying to play but it doesn't fly with me. He's a child. Who spends a fortune hiring people and watching airports to get their hands on one single child?" She stuttered.

"A mother."

"What? What? John doesn't have a mother. Dave told me so."

"Doesn't have a mother? He's a human being, isn't he? What did you think happened? That I grew him in a test tube or bought him from a pet shop? Of course he has a mother." Mr. Beckett laughed humourlessly. Jack's cheeks flamed scarlet.

"You mean this entire thing, people driving me out of my home, was over some custody battle?" She inquired hoarsely.

"Of sorts." Mr. Beckett's lips twitched. "Ms. Starbright, my occupation is not one that guidance counsellors suggest in schools. Yani's mother is... in a similar line of work. Obviously, neither of us would able to engage in a traditional battle for custody without drawing attention to our presences in this country. As such, Yani's mother has resorted to... baser methods. The problem with the option I have presented you with is that, for some reason I do not quite understand, Yanis appears to have grown fond of you. Uprooting him would be detrimental enough without taking in to consideration that he seems to have become extremely attached to you."

"I'm not going to let you take John. I can't. From what Dave told me, you're a negligent asshole. If you left with him, I wouldn't know that you were taking care of him and providing for him. John mentioned that you had a, uh, a drug problem." Jack stammered, flushing.

"I did. I haven't taken any illegal substances in a very long time, Ms. Starbright. I knew you wouldn't agree with my first suggestion and, realistically, there's only one other viable option for me to choose at this point in time."

Finally, Mr. Beckett lifted his head and looked directly at her.

"Will you... marry me?"

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***Winces* I'm a terrible updater. But here's another chapter anyway. Has anybody read Crocodile Tears yet? I'm actually avoiding the fandom because I don't want to read any spoilers. So... Do review. Drop me a quick line, just to let me know what you thought. Because now is when we're getting to the juicy stuff. **

**Also, how much do you want to read the missing scene between the end of the last chapter and the start of this one? I tried writing it fifty billion different ways but I couldn't find anything worth writing, not really. All it served to do was tell you that Alex didn't blow Yassen's cover anyway. Okay, so I love you all if you're still reading my ramblings. So. Bye.**

**And Merry Christmas to you all!**


	9. Look Around And Choose Your Own Ground

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Alex Rider series. Chapter title comes from 'Breathe- Pink Floyd'**

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"Excuse me?" Jack's brain wasn't quite fitting the pieces together. Mr. Beckett shifted uncomfortably forward in his chair, scratching the back of his neck. He actually looked... embarrassed. For once, Jack felt like perhaps they might be on equal footing. His mouth moved but she couldn't hear what he said; her head felt like it was spinning, full to the brim with white noise.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Will you marry me?"

No, she'd heard him alright.

"Uh... No?"

Mr. Beckett's face didn't change at all. He didn't look surprised or angry or amused. He just looked... desperate. Like a man who would do anything for his child. Like a person who would elope with a complete and total random stranger who he knew nothing about just for the privilege of raising his own child. Like somebody who needed a break. That didn't make him any less of an asshole.

"I understand. Thank you for your time. I will pay, of course, pay for your hotel room for however long you choose to use it. Yanis! Come. We have a flight to catch." He didn't raise his voice particularly but the projection was enough. John barrelled into the living room and spoke in rapid diatribe Russian, tugging on his father's fingers. Jack sprang to her feet, frowning. The abrupt proposal and then immediate recovery had thrown her on her back foot.

"Wait. You can't seriously think- I mean.... Your just taking him and leaving? I won't... You can't. I'll ring the airport. Let them know that you're travelling under a false name." She threatened shakily. Mr. Beckett's lips twitched slightly.

"You do not know what name I will be travelling under, or what airport I am going to. Yanis, say goodbye to Ms. Starbright. You probably won't see her for a while." Mr. Beckett said casually, lifting up his son.

Jack felt like she was choking all of a sudden, like the entire weight of her entire life was suddenly crashing down on her head. She couldn't breathe for a minute. She'd declined to marry him and he'd just shut her out straight away, just like that. He couldn't do that to people. It was just wrong. She hadn't given him the answer he'd wanted and that was it. No more discussion, no more association. He hadn't even shown any displeasure. Just cast her aside as an option he'd ruled out.

Alex. He could contact MI6. Call in a few favours or something. Make it so that he couldn't leave the country. Slowly but deliberately, she placed herself in front of the living room door. John reached out for her, clenching and unclenching his fists, but Mr. Beckett ignored the straining child in his grip.

"I know enough. I know that you haven't once called your son John in my presence. I know that it's not his real name." She heard herself say. Mr. Beckett raised an eyebrow.

"Really? How?"

"Sometimes, when I call him, he doesn't answer. Like he forgets that I'm referring to him. And he told me once to call him Yanis. I know that you must be somebody that the authorities are actively looking for, otherwise you wouldn't care about your name showing up in a custody case. And I know that I'm not moving until you give me some answers. Who are you? What's your real name?" She said, her voice steady. She was secretly impressed. She almost sounded confident.

"My name is Yassen. Yassen Gregorovich." He said, sitting back into the chair he'd occupied, settling John in his lap. The small boy nestled snugly in his father's arms, peering across at Jack with icy blue eyes. Suddenly, his resemblance to his father was strikingly, painfully evident.

"And John?" She queried, her eyes glued to the little boy.

"Yanis. Yanis Yassenovich. He probably tried to tell you. He does not tell lies." Mr. Gregorovich said stiffly, as if he was holding something back.

"He did. I'm not going to pretend that I'm not confused. Why did you... propose to me?" She hesitated on the last word.

"Because. I need to leave England. But I am on a number of lists. Both official and unofficial. I have many enemies and Yanis' mother will take advantage of that. She will be looking for a man and boy travelling together. As such, I need to slip through in a group. I would have paid a woman to accompany me, pose as my wife and Yanis' mother but I thought that it might upset Yanis. He might become attached to the woman. Besides, it's not as if I have a lot of time to formulate a strategy and move."

"I decided that, seeing as you seemed to have built a relationship with Yanis, that you might be... upset if he had to leave abruptly with me. I had planned to interview you first, but unforeseen complications arose. I must take action now." Mr. Gregorovich said, his voice flat.

Jack fidgeted nervously with the hem of her shirt. Suddenly, a strange thought crossed her mind. If he had given her his real name, it meant that he didn't expect her to go to the authorities with it. Or that it wouldn't matter if she did. She wasn't sure that it was credible that he'd be placing any kind of trust in her, but the reality of the second option was too stark. If it didn't matter what she did, then he thought the chances of him being caught were slim. Which meant that she didn't have anything to fall back on.

Which also meant that he didn't have to continue the conversation. But he was. And as long as she kept him talking, she stood a chance of him divulging something, anything. Like where he intended to go.

"And you thought a hasty proposal would be the best way to convince me?" She asked.

"No. I thought that the idea that you would be assured of Yanis' safety might. And if that wasn't enough, I was prepared to offer you a guarantee. My word. My word that if you assisted me, I would allow you some limited access once the present situation had been resolved. In a sense, I would have been offering you an opportunity to see my son grow up. But I do not have time for this discussion. We are leaving now." Mr. Gregorovich climbed to his feet again, shifting Yanis' weight to rest on his hip.

Tiny legs dangled, barely reaching his father's waist and those piercing eyes implored Jack silently, spearing her smack bang through the heart.

"What? Why didn't you... What kind of opportunity?" Jack queried with a frown.

"One weekend a month and two weeks during the Summer." Mr. Gregorovich's lips twitched slightly, like the statement amused him. Jack had to smile slightly as well, even though she felt ill; the way he'd just toted out the same custody arrangement as most mothers.

"If you're offering me custody, why wouldn't you offer Yanis' mother the same thing? I mean, I don't even know you. I could be an axe murderer for all you know."

Mr. Gregorovich pinched the bridge of his nose, holding Yanis' weight in one arm with no apparent problems.

"Because she does not want that. I have little anxiety about leaving Yanis in your care. I know- It does not matter. I would rather not discuss this in front of Yanis. Would you like to say goodbye to Ms. Starbright, Yani?" Mr. Gregorovich asked, moving towards the door of the living room.

He stopped beside Jack's chair and angled himself perfectly to allow Yanis to wrap his arms around Jack's neck. The small boy tried to cling to the redhead and Jack realized for the first time that he was crying when he started jabbering in rapid Russian. Mr. Gregorovich's face hardened as he pulled his child away from Jack.

He turned to leave and Yanis tried to scramble over his shoulder, his teary face watching Jack with large, desperate eyes, howling.

"MUMMY!" He shrieked once.

"No! Don't! I'll do it! I'll do whatever you want!" Jack sprang to her feet, almost toppling the coffee table.

Mr. Gregorovich paused in the door way and exhaled slowly before turning around. He stood for a minute before he set down the sobbing five year old who raced over to Jack, grappling her shins as tightly as he could and squeezing. Jack lifted him into her arms and he wrapped his legs around her waist. His arms flew around her neck and he buried his head in her shoulder.

He was still crying and Jack rubbed small circles on his back soothingly. Mr. Gregorovich made his way back over to his chair and sat down again. It was a move he'd completed for what felt like the umpteenth time.

"Jack."

Alex appeared silently in the door, watching his guardian with his face entirely devoid of expression. His arms were folded across his chest, his wet hair dripping onto his clean white t-shirt. He glanced over at Mr. Gregorovich warily before stepping into the room.

"You can't speak to him. He's on international most wanted lists. He's a killer, Jack." He said evenly, his eyes never leaving Mr. Gregorovich's face as he moved to stand beside Jack's chair.

"Alex, you have to-"

"Don't try and tell me what I have to do. I'm not a moron." He interrupted Mr. Gregorovich sharply. "I want to know right now what it is _exactly _that you're trying to make Jack do with this marriage thing. Because that's what he's doing, Jack. He's manipulating you. He was never going to leave, not after he'd given you his name. He's scum who's trying to use you."

"Scum? Alex, I have always exercised the greatest care and consideration in dealing with you. I've placed your welfare as paramount in many situations. I would never-"

"Be quiet. Jack, this entire situation is just a ploy to get you to do what he wants. He's using his son, his own son, to toy with your emotions. Just imagine what kind of person would use their own child to affect the outcome of a conversation. He only wants to get what he wants. Anything he says about you seeing his son afterwards, it's fabrication. It's a twisted lie." Alex interrupted again, gesturing towards Mr. Gregorovich with contempt.

Jack chewed her bottom lip and blushed furiously. It looked for all intents and purposes like Alex was the adult, warning her like that.

"I know he's using me, Alex, I know. I know that he's a b-a-s-t-a-r-d. I just... I have to do this, Alex. I've only known Yanis for a short time but it's just like with you when you were small! He needs somebody to help him, Alex. He needs to grow up right. I have to protect him." Jack replied tearfully.

"Jack. He's not me. That's what this is about, we both know it. You think you've failed me and you feel confused and guilty and you want to help that boy, stop him from facing the same choices I did. I know, I understand. But you won't be helping him by allowing that criminal to take him out of the country. You'll be dooming him to a life on the run. I understand why you want to save him. I get it. But this boy, he's not the only child in all of England who needs a family."

"You're projecting onto him, Jack. And it's not fair to yourself because you have nothing to feel guilty or bad about. You're my only family, Jack. Whatever might change in my life, you don't and I still need you. Just like I needed you when I was seven, when Ian was still here. Just like you perceive that his son needs you. Jack, you're seeing me where that boy is, that's why you want to protect him." Alex surmised coolly, crouching beside the redhead's chair.

"Alex, I can't lose him!" Jack choked out.

Jack Starbright _never _cried. Never. She'd been dumped, been to funerals, weddings, baptisms, broken bones and left her family behind without shedding a tear. But right in that moment, she came as close as she ever had, so close that her throat was aching. What Alex was saying wasn't just personal; it was hurtful too.

"He hasn't tried to argue though, has he? He's not a good person, Jack. You don't want to get involved with him. He hasn't tried to defend himself because he knows what he's doing; he's got his priorities and he'll be more than happy to use you while he has to. Then he'll drop you like a ton of bricks when you're not useful to him anymore. It's what he does." Alex continued.

"I know. But Alex, I'm doing this. And it's not for him. It's for me. I want to help Yanis in any way I can. If this is the only option, then I'm going to take it." Jack said firmly.

"Jack, you can't-"

"Alex, Ms. Starbright has made her decision. It's time for you to make yours." Mr. Gregorovich interjected calmly.

"What?"

"If you are so worried by my motives, surely you will appreciate an offer to accompany your guardian, to make sure that I do not 'drop her like a ton of bricks.'" Yassen said dryly.

Yanis shifted on Jack's lap, still snivelling, and said something in Russian. Jack glanced over at Mr. Gregorovich instantly for a translation.

"He said that he would like Alex to come. That Alex had promised to teach him how to play basketball." Mr. Gregorovich said flatly. Alex frowned, like he hadn't factored himself into the equation. Like he hadn't counted on Jack accepting anyway. Like he was surprised.

Like hell he was. Jack recognized that look in his eye. It was a sort of resignation to go through the motions. She wondered if maybe it was the same face he wore when the super villains decided to drone on and elaborate in great detail on their master plan. Then she realized that was a little inappropriate to assume; she should have been horrified that her teenage charge found himself in those kinds of situations.

"You think I'm going to play family with you? Does Jack... You haven't told her what you do, have you? You haven't-"

"Alex. Please. If you ruin this chance, you will not be hurting me. You will be stealing from my son." Mr. Gregorovich sat forward in his seat slightly.

"Just like you stole from me."

"Alex. He is a child. And I never once struck out at you deliberately."

"But you did, didn't you? Not on purpose. You knew who he was. You didn't even inform her that-"

"What is it that you want me to do? Beg? What is done, is done. I cannot change it. You have a chance now, Alex. To prove finally, conclusively, beyond reproach that you are a better man than I. You have a chance to fix any discord that has transpired between us."

"You... Ian. And then you sent me to Scorpia without warning me. You used your last breath to send me to murder. You never told me anything about my father or Ash or even my mother. You never even bothered to tell me that my godfather was still alive, that I had somebody."

"I did not know that Julia Rothman would be the one you went to. If it had been anybody else; Zeljan, Levi. You would have been safe. Julia Rothman was not one of the members I associated with in my adult life. If I had known that you would make contact with her, I wouldn't have spoken. And Anthony Sean Howell was a coward and a liar and a poor excuse for a man. I wouldn't have trusted him with a headless corpse, never mind a teenage boy." Mr. Gregorovich never broke eye contact with Alex.

"What? Somebody explain to me what exactly you two are talking about." Jack interrupted.

"She kept you a secret from the rest of the board, from the people I'd intended. I swear, Alex. Never would I have sent you to that woman. I meant for you to find Max Grendel. He had business in Venice. By the time you got there, he'd been killed. Over Invisible Sword. Alex, I would not lie to you." Mr. Gregorovich continued.

"Jack. Don't do this." Alex implored finally, breaking the eye contact to scrutinize Jack.

"I have to. I'm sorry. Mr. Gregorovich." She squared her shoulders, chin stubbornly set. "I accept."

"And you, Alex?" Mr. Gregorovich asked flatly, his tone level, watching the teen. Alex didn't change outwardly, not drastically enough for a stranger to pick up on. But Jack saw his shoulders tense. She saw the resigned look in his eyes and felt guiltily happy once she realized the decision he'd made.

"Fine." He conceded eventually. His voice sounded old and exhausted.

"Excell-"

"On one condition." Jack interrupted nervously.

Mr. Gregorovich raised an eyebrow.

"We do not set foot on any boats. I get seasick." She elaborated.

"I do too, Mummy." Yanis piped up. Mr. Gregorovich's lips twitched into the faintest echo of a wry smile as he scrutinized his son. Yanis' eyes locked with his father's and he scowled, mumbling something in Russian. Jack looked quickly to Mr. Gregorovich for translation.

However, the blond man's face had take a grim set. His eyes froze over and Jack blinked at the sudden change.

"What did he say?" She verbalized.

"He told me that he hates me."

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**_Wow. You guys were amazing last chapter. So many pretty, pretty reviews! Thank you all so much. _**

**_This chapter was harder to write. It was originally 5,000 words which was, frankly, ridiculous. So this is it compacted. I hope I wasn't too slow with the update this time._**

**_Oh, I also need you guys to help me. Big time. I need three words to describe Yassen. So? Any ideas? And 'Russian' can't be one of them. So please get cracking, give me your three words please. _**

**_Plus, I'd like to take this opportunity to shamelessly plug my new fanfic. It's called 'Sole Physical Custody.' I hope you check it out. Won't say anymore though. Don't want to go too far with the whole advertising myself thing._**

**_Thanks for reading._**

**_-DIBAW_**


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